Emerald Death
by MrsRegulusBlack123
Summary: Bellatrix had always been stubborn, even in death that did not change. When she broke the natural order for her own selfish desires, she had not expected to be reborn... as the sister of a certain blonde prince, no less.
1. Death and rebirth

When the curse hit her, it didn't hurt.

There was nothing, no pain, no images of her life flying past her eyes and no long white tunnel. Nothing. Just black.

An endless pitch of black nothingness.

She was simply floating around, her expensive silver and green robes changed to some simple black ones, not unlike the ones she had worn back when she had been a Hogwarts student, all those years ago.

Bellatrix flipped around, trying to get a better look at her surroundings, which was kind of pointless, considering that nothing beside blackness surrounded her whichever way she looked.

No one else was around… nothing else was around either as a matter of fact, not even a floor, she'd tried a few times, but no matter how far down she went Bellatrix's feet would only meet hollowness.

So this was death? Would she be fated to spend the rest of eternity in this endless pitch of nothingness, waiting for something to just happen?

How… utterly disappointing…

Bellatrix Lestrange, or Bellatrix Black, as she had once used to be called, had always imagined wild scenarios about what would happen to her after her death (though, admittedly, she'd never believed that that day would come this early) and none of them had included anything as boring as this...

One of the many theories she had heard over the years had contained fires, endless torture and screaming, some of the things Bellatrix had enjoyed the most during her life…A stupid mudblood had described the place called "hell" as that before she crucioed her to insanity for 8 hours straight. Served the mudblood right, dirtying the wizarding world with her dirty muggle blood.

Another one of those scenarios, was one that the blood-traitor who had once been called her sister had told her before she eloped with that filthy muggle, Tonks-one-or-the-other. Something about some place called "heaven", where you apparently got to meet all your loved ones again after death.

Complete bullshit, if you asked Bellatrix, both had obviously just been proved wrong.

Just as she thought that, her surroundings started shifting, changing, and all of a sudden she was no longer surrounded by blackness. Bellatrix blinked, she knew this place... it was-

'The Great hall...!'

Only that no one else was there. No Death Eaters, no blood-traitors and mudbloods defending the castle, no huge spiders and no trolls or dementors... just what had happened in there? This place looked just like the Great hall had during her own Hogwarts years... but that had been over thirty years ago...!

'You are correct indeed, Bellatrix.'

The voice that suddenly rang out, albeit soft and kind, caused the dark-haired Death Eater to gasp, her eyes wide as she whipped around, pure shock and disbelief written all over her face.

'You!' She cried out, pointing an accusing finger at the old man that had suddenly appeared behind her. 'What are _you_ doing here?'

'Calm down, dear girl...' Dumbledore said gently, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out something that looked like a muggle candy. 'All will be explained in due time...' Turning to her, he offered her one of the weird yellow sweets as well. 'Lemon drop?'

Bellatrix blanched.

'What?'

'Would you like a lemon drop? They're a sort of muggle candy I happen to be rather fond of.' The old man explained, either completely oblivious or just ignoring the incredulous look the Death Eater was giving him.

What the hell...?

'No thanks.' Bellatrix replied sourly, to which Dumbledore just shrugged. More lemon drops for himself then. 'What I want to know,' The dark-haired woman pressed, clearing her throat to get the old man's attention again, 'Is why in Merlin's name I am here, talking to a dead man.'

'Well, I'd think the answer to that would be pretty obvious...' Dumbledore simply said, starting to walk down the hall and motioning Bellatrix to follow suit. Having nothing to lose, the Death Eater did so. 'You have just died as well...'

His light blue eyes surveyed Bellatrix and the bearded man studied her reaction, but nothing about the dark-haired woman indicated that she was as much as even a bit surprised, she didn't even blink. Yes, she'd suspected that the moment she arrived in that black space some time ago...

Though having her suspicions confirmed was... it was kind of... weird. Not that she showed it. If there was one thing Slytherins were masters at, it was crafting masks, and Bellatrix Lestrange was no exception.

'Most people are usually more surprised than that to find out they are no longer among the living...' Dumbledore commented after a while, eating another one of his muggle candies. Just how many did he have on him anyway?

'I am no idiot, Dumbledore.' The eldest Black daughter snapped, glaring at the old man for suggesting so.

'I never said you were, dear girl...' The headmaster of Hogwarts replied calmly. 'In fact, you are one of the most brilliant witches I've had in my school, it's just such a shame you chose to follow Tom...'

'Who I follow is my business and my business only!'

'Certainly, I am just saying...'

Bellatrix glared at Dumbledore, she had never liked the old coot. He was such a powerful wizard, and yet he went and defended muggles and mudbloods. He could've been such a great asset in the Dark Lord's plans, if only he had chosen the right side.

Killing him had probably been the only good thing that greasy git had ever done, she had to hand it to Snape. Not that that meant she liked him any more, no, he was still a filthy half-blood that sucked up to Dumbledore all the while she was kept in Azkaban, never denying her alliance to the Dark Lord.

There was a silence as the two of them walked on down the long halls of Hogwarts. Bellatrix was not sure where the old man was taking her, and she didn't like that, she didn't like being in the dark. Not one bit.

'I am supposing you are wondering where I'm taking you?' Dumbledore suddenly spoke up, startling the Death Eater out of her thoughts. She turned to look at the old man, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

'This place is not where you go after death, not the final stage of it, at least.' Dumbledore said, taking out yet another lemon drop. Bellatrix had never paid it any attention, but she'd never noticed just how much of a sweet tooth the former headmaster of Hogwarts was. 'I will be taking you to a place where there's others like you, they are all waiting to be cleansed.'

'Cleansed?' The dark-haired woman repeated, raising an eyebrow, still suspicious of the man. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'I believe it is pretty clear, Bellatrix.' Dumbledore spoke calmly. 'The world we've lived in is only one of the many, there are worlds parallel to ours and there are worlds that are completely different. When one dies, he needs to be cleansed, he needs to forget all of his memories so that he can move on and become somebody else, perhaps in a whole different world.'

'Wha- you mean-'

'Exactly.' Bellatrix glared at the old wizard for not letting her end her thoughts, she absolutely loathed it when her occlumency was countered that easily. She remained silent however, letting the man go on. 'It might be that when you open your eyes again, in your new body and life, you will no longer be the same as you have been up until now. You might be an animal, or you might be a plant, perhaps a witch, or even a muggle.'

'T-that's...!' Bellatrix gasped, her dark eyes wide. She did _not_ want to end up as a bloody tree rooted somewhere in the middle of Azerbaijan! Not to mention, a _muggle_! The horror! She was Bellatrix Lestrange, Bellatrix _Black_. She was rich, famous, feared, she was a _pureblood_! There was no way in Merlin's name they could force _her_ to be a filthy muggle animal!

'But...' Dumbledore went on, 'There is a chance, a rather big chance actually, that you will not even be born in this world. It might be a world were magic does not exist, or a place where everyone is magical... maybe magic will simply different from our own. There is no way to know...'

Bellatrix did not like that. The more she listened to what this old coot had to say, the more she found herself horrified. Not only would she no longer be a Black, but she might be stripped of her magic as well? Her pure blood? The things that set her apart from all the mudbloods, muggles and blood-traitors? She might be sent to a whole different world, he'd said, with no memory of all the great things, all the _sacrifices_, she'd done for her blood, her race, the Dark Lord!

Dumbledore was still talking, something about the balance between worlds, but the Death Eater was not listening. No, her mind was formulating a plan.

She didn't care how long it took, or how hard it'd be. Bellatrix would not let herself lose all her precious memories. Her childhood, her sisters and little Regulus, Hogwarts, Rodolphus and then... _him_, the Dark Lord. He changed her life, for the first time ever, she had been shown how it felt to be _alive_.

It was why she killed after all, that pleasure that flooded through her, it was like nothing else. It made her feel alive, it made her feel real. She loved it, and she did not want to forget it. The thrill of killing, of torturing... it was a bliss. And she wanted to remember it forever.

Yes, Bellatrix thought as she grinned, she would keep her memories with her. No matter what.

'Well, we are almost there no-' The sentence was left unfinished as the old man's eyes widened and he let out a gasp. He tried to get out of the way, he really did, but Bellatrix was faster.

Jumping at him, the dark-haired witch knocked the wizard to the ground. Then she took off faster than he could blink. Her laughter sounded through the halls of Hogwarts and she couldn't help but taunt her old headmaster as she grabbed the handle of a random door, ready to push it open and escape this place once and for all.

'So long, Dumby!' She cackled at the same time as he cried out "No, Bellatrix don't!". Not that she listened, in less than a second, she had pushed the door open and ran inside.

And then, she suddenly existed no more.

* * *

><p>'Congratulations your Highness, it's a healthy baby girl.'<p> 


	2. The little princess of Accidia

**Hi again! Um, so... chapter two is up (yay! that was much faster than I had anticipated)**

**And yeah, just to clarify some things, I obviously didn't know how to call Bel's kingdom so I had to improvise. ****As you might or might not know, each of the TYB Varia members represent a sin (Xanxus is wrath, Squalo is pride, Mammon is greed, and so forth) well, Bel is sloth, so I just played around a bit with google translate and there you have it. Accidia is how I'll be calling Bel-kun's kingdom from now on, since that means sloth in Latin.**

**Now onto the story! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The royal family had always been a source of gossip for the townspeople of Accidia. Ever since ancient years, nothing was better than a nice juicy rumor to accompany a delightful cup of afternoon tea.<p>

The kings and queens of Accidia were shrouded by mystery after all and no one knew very much of them, not even their maids and servants, or their advisers. Nobody...

They hardly ever left the big walls surrounding the castle, and their kids were never seen by anyone until they were off age. Why they did so, no one knew. But no one dared question it, for if there was one thing that Accidia's townspeople _did_ know about their rulers, it was that they were capable of cruelty. And extreme cruelty at that. They had demonstrated thus countless times before.

It was the key through which they ruled their country. Fear. Pure, bone-chilling fear. They were the ones in power and did not hesitate to kill if that was what it took to remind everyone of that.

Thus, when the queen went through labor that one night, bringing to the world a new princess, the townspeople of course heard.

Doctors had been called over and it had been a pretty hard childbirth by the sounds of it, but she had succeeded. A little princess had been born in the dead of the night, her skin pale as marble and her eyes a greyish-silver not unlike the clouds outside that night.

Word had it that the first thing she did, was glare at the doctor that had helped her mother deliver.

She was named Bellatrix, the third brightest star in the constellation Orion, the _female warrior_.

Celebrations befitting that of a princess followed of course, and many, many rich and noble people from all around the country arrived to give the newest member of the royal family their blessings.

Things quieted down for a while after that, but it wasn't long until rumors started going around again, this time all of them concerning the newborn princess that had never even left the castle walls.

The members of the royal family themselves might almost never leave the castle, but their maids and servants did, and they chattered more than a teenage girl did when the subject of her crush was broached.

There was something..._ unnatural_ about the princess. Something plain creepy, something that scared the living hell out of the staff.

The king and queen were too busy ruling Accidia to notice and thus the maids were the ones left babysitting, they were the ones left to connect the pieces.

Princess Bellatrix was a strange baby in every sense of the word possible. She was always calm, just lying in her crib and staring (or, if anyone dared make contact, glaring) at everyone and everything.

If there were people nearby, talking to each other, she'd often turn her head towards them, listening in on the conversation. It looked almost as if she could actually _understand_ them, as if she knew what they were talking about.

But that was impossible, right? Because she was just a baby, wasn't she? Babies weren't capable of understanding human speech, not right off the bat.

There were also some rumors started by Helena, an old and particularly superstitious woman that had lived in the castle her whole life. She had apparently been the one to wash the child off after she was born, and she had been most horrified to discover the birthmark on the newborn baby's left arm.

A skull, she'd said, a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth.

In the old woman's eyes, that could only mean one thing. The child was cursed, she was a demon that had come there to destroy them all.

Not that anyone believed her in that aspect though, as aforementioned, Helena had been old and was often deemed to be delusional by those around her. The woman later became an unspoken taboo after she suddenly disappeared one day.

She was supposed to have gone out for a walk in the nearby woods, but she never came back again. All of the townspeople knew that that was not the case, they were just too scared to voice it.

Someone had let her words slip to the king and queen, and they had acted accordingly.

The one thing all of them talked about however, the one thing that had them all so spooked of that one little child, was her eyes. There wasn't a single time they were not mentioned when talking about the little princess.

Those eyes, they were always staring at you, no, not _at_ you... but rather, right _through_ you. As if she knew your every thought, your every fear... as if she could look right into your soul.

Even as the little princess grew, that did not change, if anything, things only became worse by time.

Little Bellatrix was every bit as beautiful as all of the royal family's members were, with a pale complexion and silky black hair cascading down her shoulders.

However, just as beautiful she was, she was just every bit as cruel.

She carried a whole different air to her than her parents did, she was prideful of course, holding herself in a higher regard than everyone else and being all that a princess of Accidia should be.

But there was something else about her as well, something darker. It wasn't like the king, who was cold. It wasn't like the queen, who was indifferent. No, it was... it was as if she liked, she _loved_ watching people suffer.

No one could quite put a finger on it, but there was something decidedly _evil_ about the royal child, something that chilled even the bravest of Accidia's residents to the bone.

They had never met her, and sincerely hoped things would remain that way.

* * *

><p>A little girl was standing in the middle of one of the castle's countless bathrooms, her arm slightly outstretched as she wiped away the damp that had gathered on the mirror, trying to get a better look at what was in front of her. She was wrapped in nothing but a warm fluffy towel as she glared at her reflection, frowning in visible distaste.<p>

A petite child was staring right back at her, her skin a creamy white color, so pale that it looked almost unnatural. The dark and currently soaked curls of hair that cascaded down her shoulders only served in making her look even more freakishly pale than she already did.

She was known by many names, Bellatrix Black, Bellatrix Lestrange or simply "Bella" being just a few of them.

She had once been a proud pureblood witch, a Black, a Slytherin and a Death Eater... she had been the Dark Lord's most trusted follower, or well, that's at least what she'd always wanted to believe. Truth be told, Bellatrix had never found out if the Dark Lord had ever _really_ trusted anyone.

But she figured that didn't really matter since he favored her, and that was enough for her, who **loved** him. She was his most devoted follower, together, she had been certain that they could achieve _the cause_. They could rid the world of mudbloods, muggles and blood-traitors, everyone that did not deserve to practice magic.

Kind of funny, considering how she ended up as.

No matter who she had once been, no matter what great things she had once done, one thing she was absolutely certain of: the chubby four-year-old standing in front of the bathroom's big mirror, glaring at the excessive baby fat coating her cheeks and just about every other part of her as well, was not the feared Death Eater that had killed and tortured hundreds, maybe even thousands.

The small girl in front of her, was not Bellatrix the pureblood Black witch... she was Bellatrix, the princess of a muggle country she'd never even heard of before her birth there.

The only reminder that she had actually once been part of the magical world, part of the _Death Eaters_, was the Dark Mark on her left forearm. It didn't burn anymore though, neither could she feel the Dark Lord calling her... it was just... a birthmark...

It was a side effect of being reborn without going through that cleansing procedure the old coot had mentioned, Bellatrix supposed. Apparently, along with keeping her memories, part of the person she had been when alive, _a witch, a Death Eater_, could not be erased. They were parts delved too deep into her very being, parts she had no choice but to carry along with her to her next life. She was reborn, but not exactly, because as strange as it was to explain, Bellatrix the Slytherin witch still existed inside her. And so did Bellatrix the princess of Accidia.

You couldn't count them as two different people, because they were one and the same, they were both _Bellatrix_... but at the same time, they also weren't.

Shaking her head, Bellatrix just dropped the matter, it was too confusing for even herself to fully understand. The only thing it did was give her a migraine, and that she did not need, not right now.

'Are you done, princess?' The voice of one of the maids was heard, a knock sounding on the door. Turning away from the mirror, Bellatrix focused her dark-colored eyes on the door before nodding.

'Yes.' She added, knowing full well the muggle wasn't able to see her.

The door opened and a maid stepped in, Caroline, if Bellatrix recalled her name correctly. She smiled at the four-year-old as she made her way over to the little princess, carrying some more towels and what looked like the gown she'd be wearing tonight.

Caroline was smiling all the while as she helped Bellatrix get dressed (thoroughly getting glared at the whole time) and having a rather one-sided conversation with the girl.

But Caroline was bad at masking her emotions, and Bellatrix, having been a Slytherin for her whole (previous) life, was not only a master at making masks, but also at seeing through them. She'd dare say she was second to only the Dark Lord and perhaps Dumbledore.

The muggle woman was afraid of her, she was crept out by the way she could so easily read her, twist her mind against her with just one look.

It had been one of the more happy days in this cursed land when Bellatrix found out she wasn't completely non-magical. She hadn't been able to try and find out earlier due to her not having a wand and thus not being able to perform even the simplest of spells or even apparate. The Death Eater had been most satisfied to find out she was still capable of occlumency though... or well, something similar to it at least... Had a blast messing up people's thoughts too, because best of all, they had no evidence to accuse her with, because muggles didn't believe in magic.

'There, all set.' Caroline announced, getting up and backing off a bit to take a look at the princess and assure herself that everything was in perfect order. The king and queen would (perhaps even literally) have her head if their daughter didn't look just as she ought to...

But she needn't have worried. Bellatrix looked every bit the princess she was supposed to be in her beautiful dark green dress (she had absolutely refused to wear the red one, going as far as to chuck it into a lit fireplace), a silver little coronet perched on top of her head. Caroline had tried to plaid her hair as well, but a warning glare from the small princess had quickly changed her mind.

'Your parents are waiting downstairs.' The maid announced and Bellatrix nodded, not sparing the woman another glance as she left the room, starting to make her way down the long, spidery halls.

Surprisingly, becoming accustomed to the life of a princess hadn't been all that hard a thing to do... it was rather like her previous lifestyle, actually. The only difference was that instead of house-elves there were maids and servants, instead of mudbloods and blood-traitors there were "peasants" and instead of purebloods there were nobles, dukes and marquises.

Everything was pretty much the same, just a different terminology. There were still family trees with absurdly long names that had to be learned by heart and there were still stories of important people that had to be remembered down to the last detail.

It was just other faces, other names, other people. The world still resolved around money, and the power was still in the hands of those few that did not work hard, but played dirty instead.

It wasn't hard to adapt to something she was already used to. If anything, this life was in fact even more luxurious than her life as a Black had been, and it certainly beat being a Lestrange any times as well.

She wasn't surprised when her "parents" told her they'd be holding a party to make this very important announcement, what _had_ caught her off guard though, was the fact that she was to attend.

First time she was ever allowed into a pureblood gathering in her previous life, was when she became 17 and was finally an adult, so why this should be any different, Bellatrix was not sure.

Surely they wouldn't want their four-year-old daughter in between their legs while they talked about something of great importance... she was certain she wouldn't have wanted, because Merlin knew that she despised kids on the best of days. Having one running rampant while you're trying to hold a meeting... the kid would find himself hanging upside down from the ceiling and at the end of receiving one of her bat bogey jinxes. And that was only if he didn't piss her off enough to start using unforgivable.

So she figured that this "wonderful news", as the queen had called it, must really be something quite important if she had to hear about it too...

She supposed this ball could be used to her advantage though... it wouldn't be bad to start meeting some important people from an early age on if this godforsaken land was where she would be spending the rest of her second life. Friends in high places always came in handy later...

'Mother? Father?' Bellatrix spoke up as she reached the top of the staircase, causing the couple standing at the bottom of said stairs to look up.

Both of the king and queen of Accidia were very good-looking people, Slytherins to the core, Bellatrix had soon come to realize too. They were perfect for each other, both pale, and carrying an arrogance not unlike the Blacks, Rosiers, Yaxleys, Malfoys and any other self-respecting purebloods had.

The queen was tall and blonde with a beautiful face that reminded Bellatrix way too much of Narcissa to be comfortable around her. She was always well-mannered when the situation benefited her or her kingdom and always wore a carefully crafted mask that had fooled many. But Bellatrix could see underneath that, the queen of Accidia was a cold woman, she cared about no one but herself.

The king, on the other hand, a tall and dark-haired man, was cold and cruel and he never hesitated to show that to the people of his kingdom. He reigned through pure fear, and in so many ways... this muggle reminded Bellatrix of her Lord.

The only difference was that this man was a coward, he never acted himself, he let all the others do the dirty jobs for him while he sat back and watched. He was a coward and a filthy hypocrite, unlike the Dark Lord, Bellatrix didn't feel even an ounce of respect for this man.

They weren't together out of love, Bellatrix wasn't stupid, or naive, enough to believe that. She was very well aware of it having been an arranged marriage even though nobody had ever hinted at that, just like hers and Rodolphus' marriage had been planned out by their parents respectively. And just as she was sure would happen in this life too.

If it hadn't already been planned out, that is...

'Bellatrix, finally.' Her "father" said, snapping Bellatrix out of her thoughts and nodding at the little princess to get down. Catching the silent command, the girl frowned, not liking the thought of being bossed around very much. She had never been one to be bossed around by anyone that wasn't her Dark Lord after all. Bellatrix said nothing though and obliged.

'You're wearing that green dress?' The queen questioned, scrunching her nose up slightly in distaste. 'I thought I told Caroline to dress you in that red gown duke Ayres brought back especially from France...'

Bellatrix just shrugged, not caring to tell the woman that it had in fact probably been reduced to ashes by now. She could find that out all on her own later...

Her "mother" just sighed, walking over to her daughter and taking a moment to fix the dress's collar before stepping back and checking her work, nodding one single time in approval before straightening her own crown and turning to give Bellatrix a stern look.

'You will be on your best behavior tonight Bellatrix, do you understand that?' She spoke firmly, her eyes narrowed at the four-year-old in a threatening kind of manner a real child might've not caught, but Bellatrix, technically not having been a child for some decades now, was able to tell immediately. She just stared back at the muggle impassively for a moment, shrugging.

'Bellatrix.' Her "father" said warningly, causing her to turn to him. Staring at him for a few seconds as well, the child finally nodded. Better stay on their good side for now... until she was strong enough to overpower them.

With an approving nod, the king stepped forward, pushing the big mahogany doors to the ballroom open as the queen took Bellatrix's hand, putting on her facade again as she lead the small princess inside.

She was still powerless now, her four-year-old body lacking the strength and fighting capabilities she had had before she died... but just wait, when she was a bit older, when she finally started to regain her strength again, she would kill them all and leave this bizarre place.

The king and queen wouldn't know what hit them.


	3. The party

As Bellatrix entered the ballroom, her hand still being held by the queen, the ex-Death Eater couldn't help but be a tiny bit thankful that she wasn't one of those kinds of people that tended to freeze up in front of big crowds. Even with all of her previous experience as a pureblood and a Death Eater, all the speeches she'd given in front of others like her, bragging about either raiding muggle neighborhoods or her latest achievement back at Hogwarts, this was a big crowd... bigger than any she had ever had to face before, perhaps even bigger than the one during her sorting on that fateful September 1st back when she'd been just eleven years old.

There were hundreds of people inside that chamber, all of their eyes focused on the royal family as they stepped inside, their talking having immediately ceased the moment the mahogany doors were opened.

Bellatrix's "father" stepped forward, a pleasant smile on his lips as he surveyed the muggles surrounding him and his "family". It was a facade that fooled no one, but none of the muggles within the room dared speak up as he approached. Bellatrix simply stood back along with her "mother", watching the scene in front of her play out without taking any particular interest in it.

One by one, all of the muggles bowed before them, keeping their heads low as the dark-haired king watched them, a self-satisfied smirk curling up his lips. Not for a moment did the black-haired "princess" believe the bowing to be a sign of respect towards their rulers, she was not that naïve, or foolish. It was an act of submission, an act of fear if you will. She had after all seen it many times among the Death Eater ranks, so many in fact, that she had come to be able to recognize it at first glace. As much as it saddened her to say so, a great number of the Dark Lord's followers were not truly devoted to him, they just feared and wanted his power, the moment he lost it their so-called "loyalty" had evaporated, just as if it had never existed in the first place. It was not hard to tell that this was exactly the case here as well.

A small smirk found its way to Bellatrix's lips as well, her eyes settled on the people in front of her. If only she could find a way to turn the king's power against him... that would surely be her ticket to get out of this damn place once and for all...

Her "father", evidently having grown bored of all the bowing people in front of him, slapped a smile onto his face (and a rather foreboding smile it was, with the unmasked look of cruelty that was still in his eyes) and told the muggles to "please, do get up".

Bellatrix felt a tug at her hand as her "mother" gave her a slight pull, motioning her to join her "father" in the middle of the room. Placing an arm on her shoulder, the king turned his attention back to his people. He cleared his throat, as if trying to ensure they were all listening. He shouldn't have bothered though, for all eyes were already on the new face, the petite princess that they had all heard so much about.

Bellatrix didn't even need to use her occlumency in order to figure out what was going through their heads in those short few moments, it was only too clear in their eyes, the way they thoroughly inspected her, trying to evaluate the four-year-old and determine whether or not she could be of any use to them one day somehow.

Now, many might think of this as foolish, how could after all a mere four-year-old be of any use to anyone? What could a child that had not even learned how to properly read and write possibly have to offer? Even if she was a princess, the girl was still just a child, no high position in society (not _yet_, anyways), no valuable skills or contacts, literally had _no _influence over anyone that could be considered even mildly important.

But Bellatrix knew better, she knew better because she had already been through this whole ordeal once already. Kids were the future generation, they were weak and gullible, and that was what made it easy. One push in the right direction and you could mold them into whatever you wished, whether that was a successful business man or a sore loser, you could easily turn him into the globe's most hated villain if you so desired. Because children were naïve, too naïve for their own good, and they were easily manipulated, so easily that not even the imperious was needed to make them listen.

If they looked up to someone, that certain person's words were law, they idolized them and, unknowingly, left themselves completely unguarded. Bellatrix had never been one to get along well with kids, but she had seen it in other people, and she knew that if you played your cards right, you could later twist them into serving your purpose.

It was the first time that she really looked at all of the room's occupants and realized this, but this place was filled with people just like her. They might not have a single drop of magical blood running through their veins and they might not all be on the same standing as her, but every single person inside this ball room had one thing in common. _Their way of thinking_. It was only then that Bellatrix first realized, that she finally noticed that she was standing in a room filled with snakes, _Slytherins_, just like her.

'Everyone, I would like you to meet my daughter.' The king announced as he urged the girl to move a bit closer to the crowd so that they could get a better look at her. 'This is Bellatrix, the princess of Accidia.'

* * *

><p>Bellatrix stared at all the adults in the room with a look akin to boredom as she leaned against the balcony ledge, a glass of orange juice being held in her hand as she contemplated whether she should actually drink it or simply chuck it down into the rose bushes. She would've of course preferred to have something that she actually <em>liked<em>, but the queen had forbidden her to drink anything alcoholic. Stupid physical age, such an inconvenience it was.

So far, this "party" was turning out to be exactly as Bellatrix had expected it to. There were well-dressed people everywhere, fake smiles and compliments being exchanged around every corner. No matter which way you looked, you would be met with lavish decorations, buffets filled with all kinds of exotic foods and big piles of gifts brought not only to the king and queen of Accidia but also herself.

The king and queen were currently talking to who Bellatrix could now identify as duke Ayres, one of her "father's" many advisers and a close "friend". He was a tall man with graying hair, a stern, easily dislikable face and a wife that could've been his daughter.

She spotted the duchess standing in the other side of the room, happily chattering away with some of other young wives, quite obviously happy to have managed to get away from her husband if even for only a little while. Bellatrix couldn't really blame her either, for in comparison to _that_ filthy old lecher, even Rodolphus looked like a perfectly wonderful and loving husband. And seeing as Rodolphus had spent ¾ of his day with that Zabini bitch instead of his wife, coming back drunk and not bothering to even _try_ to hide all the telltale signs of sex (like honestly, what were concealing charms for? It wasn't like she never cheated but she at least did an effort so that the gossip didn't go around like wildfire the next morning), that was indeed saying something. The old geezer had practically been undressing every female, whether that was a teenage girl or grown up woman, with his eyes ever since he got there. If this was his "dignified" behavior, she certainly would not want to be living with him all day and night. Bellatrix Black/Lestrange, the Dark Lord's self proclaimed right hand, was feeling pity for a muggle. Now that is something the Daily Prophet could use as a headline, see it people, see it and don't believe it...

The little group of girls Bellatrix had absentmindedly been watching for the last few minutes suddenly turned to look at her, starting to giggle and squeal stupidly as they noticed she was looking back at them, all hurrying over and flocking around her, starting to pinch her cheeks and cry out how cute she was. The "princess " had to resist the incredible urge of just groaning in pure exasperation, what was it with people and _pinching cheeks_? Or calling her cute for that matter... Bellatrix Lestrange was not _cute. _She was a Death Eater for Merlin's sake, and just as any self-respecting practitioner of the dark arts, she took offense at being called _cute_ when she was in fact already well over the age that could be considered cute anymore. Even if she looked like only four at the time...

'That dress looks so good on you, princess!'

'And that hair...! I just want to braid it! And ribbons would look adorable too! Have you tried putting on something pink, I am sure it would suit you...!'

'Aww! So cute, I want a little girl just like you one day!'

'We weren't really sure what you would like, so we brought you a rather big assortment of candy from all the places we visited on our honeymoon with my husband!'

'Where is that necklace from? It is so pretty! Is it custom-made?'

Bellatrix felt her hand twitching for her wand, a not-so-unexplainable urge to hex these stupid chatter-boxes into next year overcoming the witch. If she only had her wand, her perfect polished piece of walnut wood, 12 and ¾ inches, containing dragon heartstring... so good for dueling, oh yes, so helpful for cursing stupid muggles like those pea-brained monkeys... so perfect, so perfect... if only it had been transported to this damn place with her, ah the opportunities... the curses she could cast. Bellatrix almost sighed willfully, but somewhere in the back of her mind she must've still been aware of her current predicament and how the muggles would only make more of a fuss if she suddenly sighed, lost in her own little dreamland as she mentally used the unforgivables to her heart's content. The muggles of course wouldn't know about that last part, and they'd probably go on squealing about the "four-year-old's" so-called cuteness. That would've been quite an inconvenience, and really, they were already being annoying enough as it was.

Somehow, Bellatrix had no idea _how_, but _somehow_, the conversation had ended up turning to the chatter-boxes' summers and how they spent them (why they were even talking about summertime when it was already April, the "princess" hadn't got the slightest idea).

'It was absolutely fabulous! A dream...!' The woman that was now known as Miranda blabbered excitedly on and on and just _fucking_ _on _as the black haired witch actually contemplated whether she should push her off the balcony or jump off herself. Bellatrix just couldn't fathom what could possibly be this exciting about a vacation to Russia that she could keep talking about it for over _two freaking hours now_. A hundred and twenty minutes.**Non-stop**.

Sure, Bellatrix herself had never been to Russia in either of her lives and she had to admit that she had been quite interested at first... but what kind of a human being could possibly talk about shopping districts and fashion tips for that long and not even pause to get a drink?

'You didn't...!' The redhead called Maria squealed, covering her mouth and giggling. Bellatrix hated that sound, she had hated it ever since her school years at Hogwarts. People never seemed to realize just how hard it was to study for your NEWTs when some idiotic fourth-year girl sat next to you in the common room, giggling like there was no tomorrow. If only she could hang them upside down from the whomping willow... just like she had done with that stupid midget... now _that_ would've been fun.

'I DID!' Miranda exclaimed, giggling as well. Oh Merlin, the immaturity. _Calm down Bellatrix, just __calm down__._ 'Her face was soooo hilarious when I announced I'd be buying a pair of everything! I bet that peasant had never seen that much money in her life!'

They all laughed then and Bellatrix decided that, the queen be damned, she was going to chug down some seriously strong booze. So she reached out to the table and grabbed a random glass, pulling it towards her and downing it. Time to find out what the muggle equivalent to firewhiskey was.

* * *

><p>'Nothing at all? No quick little honeymoon-'<p>

'J-Jane...!' "Lynn" exclaimed, looking scandalized as the others burst out into giggles. As Bellatrix chugged down a glass of what had been labeled as "champagne" (_still_ trying to find out which the strongest of the lot was), she wondered whether they actually still remembered there was supposed to be a four-year-old listening in on their conversation. 'Nothing like that happened!'

'Eeeh? Then what did you do your whole honeymoon? Sit there and wait for the grass to grow? What kind of a honeymoon doesn't-' Miranda stepped on the protesting girl's foot, making the other let out a cry of pain as the shoe's heel was stomped onto her toes, something that sounded suspiciously like "there are kids here!" being heard. She sent a pointed look at Bellatrix and the other's mouth formed an "O" as realization finally dawned her.

'Like I said, we never got to do anything. Vincent couldn't get out of bed so we hardly left the hotel.'

'Ah, yes, now I remember, didn't he come back limping or something?' There were some confused looks and some others that showed realization as Miranda went on. 'Was it true then, that he was shot while you guys were in Italy?'

'Shot?'

'Oh my god!'

'Why did you never tell us of that?'

'Ah well, yeah, you see-' Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. Shot... that, that was like being hit by a curse or something in the muggle world, right? Maybe a serious curse too, if the looks on the muggles' faces was anything to go by. Putting her glass on the table again (the drink she had just drank this time was "wine"), Bellatrix picked out a new one.

'Never mind that! What happened?'

'Ah, well, we were just strolling down this empty street the night after we got there, and it was getting a bit late... But you know, it all seemed fine and it was so calm and then- then this guy just came out from nowhere and he was speaking some Italian dialect and we couldn't understand him-' The young woman paused to catch her breath, obviously starting to hyperventilate as she recounted the events of whatever had happened during her honeymoon. 'And he had a gun, and he was saying something... something about... about clams, I think. V-Vongole or something. And then- then he just shot! For no reason at all!'

'Oh dear... that must have been horrible!'

'Yes, you should have come to us right away...!'

Bellatrix just watched them with little interest as they started their over-dramatic show again, this time hugging each other and crying... or well, weeping would actually be a more accurate term. What was the big deal anyway? It wasn't like anybody had been killed. And why would someone "shoot" someone else for a bit of seafood? Before Bellatrix got to question any of that though, a man was standing in front of them all, clearing his throat as to get everyone's attention.

'Ladies, gentlemen... could I have your attention for a few moments please?' The effect wasn't as great as it had been when the king had spoken up a few hours ago at the beginning of the party, but everyone quieted down soon enough nonetheless, turning to look at them man standing in the middle of the ballroom, a muggle device that amplified his voice just like a sonorus charm would have done in his hand. 'Right, our King and Queen have an announcement to make now... Princess, would you please come stand over here with us?'

Bellatrix blinked as duke Ayres addressed her, quite honestly not having expected it and trying to inconspicuously set the glass of "martini" (what weird names muggles had for their drinks!) back onto the buffet as all gazes turned to her.

She tucked a lock of her black hair behind her ear and nodded, starting to make her way through the crowd in order to get to her "parents". She was gifted with a look of disapproval courtesy to her "mother", her lips being set in a tight line as she noticed the absence of the silver tiara on her "daughter's" head.

Well, Bellatrix couldn't help but internally scoff, what had she expected? The thing had kept sliding off her head, not to mention, it looked utterly ridiculous no matter how she looked at it. Why in the name of Merlin would _anyone_ wear a _tiara_ willingly? Knowing better than to mess with her "father" though (for the man was glaring at her too by that time), Bellatrix slipped the jewel back onto her head.

The king nodded before turning back to duke Ayres and gingerly taking the muggle device (a microphone it was called, Bellatrix remembered now that she actually paused to think of it) out of his hands. He tapped it twice before starting to talk.

'First of all, we would like to thank you all for being here on this wonderful evening, it was a pleasure to have you all here, new and old.' There were a few muggles that started to applaud at that moment but the king wove them off, wanting to get onto the main subject of the matter. 'Now,' the tips of his lips turned lightly upwards, 'on to the _real_ reason for which we gathered you all here tonight.'

There were a few moments of tense silence before Bellatrix's "father" went on, looking very confident and satisfied to finally be doing so.

'It would be our great pleasure to announce you that, this Winter, our kingdom will have the joy of welcoming not one, but _two_ new members to the royal family!'


	4. His eyes

Her first show of accidental magic had earned Bellatrix numerous praises and a large celebration in her previous life. She could still remember how proud her mother and father had been when she accidentally smashed their expensive china vase during one of her tantrums quite clearly, for on any other occasion they would've been angry, sending the house-elves to clean up the mess she had caused as Bellatrix herself was lectured for her carelessness. Clumsiness didn't _suit _the eldest child of the noble and most ancient house of Black after all (or any member of the family, for that matter) and it would most definitely not be tolerated, that much had been drilled into her from since before Bellatrix was was even able to understand the words.

But that time was different, they didn't even get irritated at having a priceless heirloom smashed to pieces, not having stopped bragging about it to their pureblood acquaintances for weeks after the incident instead. Their astonished faces at a child as young as herself being able to conjure up enough magic to smash something, even if it was accidental, had stayed with her even now, when they technically were her parents no longer.

Bellatrix prided herself in having been the youngest of the sisters to show signs of magic, Narcissa had been six, and Andromeda had been nearing seven but Bellatrix had been _five _(and ten months, but who cared), and even for a family as pureblooded and respectable as the Blacks, that was indeed unusual.

But that... that was all in her previous life...

The king and queen of Accidia, as opposed to Cygnus and Druella Black, weren't all too happy with her when she had her first outburst of accidental magic.

* * *

><p>Bellatrix was bored, that was all there was to it, really.<p>

Though she had decided to get involved with this place's important people early on, thus hopefully gaining a way out of this damned castle and country, so far the former Death Eater was having no luck. When she voiced her opinions about wanting more company than just the maids that walked around, the only people the king and queen had deemed it acceptable for her to meet were not the actual dukes and marquises she had hoped for. They seemed to have discussed it and come to the conclusion that it would be better to set her up some play dates with children worthy of her status.

Children with no power over her "parents", the muggles living in their country or anyone even slightly important for that matter. They were all annoying little snot-nosed brats that cared about little that wasn't tea parties, dolls and video games.

Not for the first (nor last) time, Bellatrix found herself cursing the fact that in this life she was nothing more than a short-legged, big-eyed, chubby-cheeked four-year-old child. It was annoying, nerve-wrecking, frustrating beyond believe just how slow days seemed to go by. In her first life she could've sworn that everything before the age of six had seemed like a blur, she remembered stuff of course, but it had all passed that quickly it was almost frightening. Unfortunately, as much as it saddened Bellatrix to say so, things didn't seem to be the same this time around, for she had been in this damn place for what had felt like centuries (_centuries_ for Merlin's sake!) and yet, only four years had passed.

Who could blame her for getting irritated at her current predicament?

'How does a cup of tea sound, Sir Snuggles?' The blonde six-year-old asked her teddy bear in a tone of complete seriousness as she held up an empty tea pot in what Bellatrix guessed was supposed to be a graceful and elegant way, pausing only for a moment in order to hear the stuffed toy's nonexistent answer before nodding her head solemnly. 'Yes, I quite agree, rose tea is best.'

The girl poured a bit of "tea" in "Sir Snuggle's" cup and, apparently satisfied, turned to the three-year-old brat sitting next to her. Her eyes narrowed for a moment, and judging by the brief exclamation of pain that left the boy's lips only seconds later, the former Death Eater guessed that the kid had gone and kicked her brother.

'_Tea_, Philip?' The boy, momentarily distracted from picking his nose (oh how disgusting it was to sit next to the brat!) glanced at his sister, his features showing quite clearly that no, he did not want any tea. He must've really feared the crazy banshee though, for after a few moments (and a pointed look from Susanne) Philip nodded.

Susanne busied herself with filling her brother's cup of tea before filling her own (Bellatrix had already been given her share of "tea" a while ago) and finally put the damn thing down. She then picked up a plate with cookies (these actually existed, since a maid had come to bring them earlier) and took two for herself.

'Does anyone else want a cookie?' Her eyes were on Bellatrix, and the dark-haired girl knew that Susanne wanted her to take a biscuit as well, she had been through this enough times already, back when Narcissa had been at that horrible age. Tough luck for Susanne though, for unlike her little brother, Bellatrix Black/Lestrange was not that gullible.

Philip reached out and grabbed a cookie instead and though she frowned, Susanne said nothing. Being the oldest of the group (or so she _thought _at least) seemed to have given the brat the idea that that meant she could boss the other two around, which was how they'd ended up doing something as absurd as having a tea party, and not even a _real _tea party at that, a _pretend_ tea party. It was nothing more than a complete and utter waste of time, if you asked Bellatrix.

Susanne could sure _talk _though... she could talk and talk and talk... about thousands of boring things, dolls and her petty little friends being among the ones she liked to babble about most. It was making her drowsy, all that chattering, Bellatrix didn't even know what it was all about anymore. She started losing herself, and before she knew it, Philip and Susanne were no longer sitting next to her.

It was only herself in the playroom her "parents" had set up for her, sitting in that uncomfortable chair made of plastic, a blueish kind of smoke... no... _mist_ surrounding her. Bellatrix blinked and sat up straight, trying to make out her surroundings.

What was with all that mist, and since when was mist _indigo-_colored anyway?

Before she could ponder over it much longer she heard a voice, a voice that she knew she'd recognize anywhere, even after four whole years. Hell, she had been able to recognize it after _fifteen_ of those years, all of them spent locked up in a cold prison cell in the middle of the Atlantic sea!

'Bellatrix...' His voice was cold, just like it always had been, but hearing it warmed the former Death Eater up like nothing else in those previous four years had managed.

'My lord...!' She exclaimed, and as she got up from her chair her surroundings all suddenly shifted, and she was standing in the Malfoy Manor, surrounded by her dearest sister, her fellow Death Eaters, even her parents were among them even though they should've been long dead. And, she almost couldn't believe her eyes, _Regulus_! She wasn't even too disappointed to see Snape's face among the crowd.

And there, in the middle of it all was the Dark Lord. She had no idea what this was, or how in the name of Merlin a miracle like this could be possible, for more than half of these people were supposed to be dead (then again, so was she), and raising the dead was one of the few things magic could not do. Everybody knew that, but then how-

'Finally, you're here... for a moment I thought you wouldn't be coming.' Lord Voldemort said, his red eyes focused on Bellatrix. She gave an involuntary shiver, whether out of fear or excitement, even she wasn't sure. 'Well, won't you join us?'

'Join you, my lord?'

'We're having some fun with a couple of filthy muggles, come on Bella, you have a round too.' Evan Rosier grinned as he turned to face her, shoving Mulciber out of the way (who had been busy casting some spell or the other) and making way for Voldemort's most devoted follower.

'But my wand-'

'What are you talking about Bella? Your wand is in your robe pocket, just like it always is.' Regulus spoke up, and the former Death Eater couldn't help but notice how young he looked, he didn't look a day older than the last time she saw him, he was even wearing the same set of robes...

It was only then that Bellatrix suddenly realized, her attire had changed. She was no longer dressed in that horrid blue dress, but in her black Death Eater robes... and her body... it had grown?

'Today would be nice, Lestrange.' Snape, being the greasy git he was, just _had _to interfere. 'Not all of us have the whole day to laze around.'

'Shut up, Snape.' And as she pulled her wand out of her pocket (just where Regulus had said it'd be!), she felt just like in the old days again, she felt strong, powerful. It felt so good, to finally be in control again.

She flexed her fingers as to prepare herself, a grin spreading on her lips as she raised the wand towards the figures on the ground. And then she just cast spells, one after the other, not pausing to think over it, her mouth just forming the right incantations on its own.

It felt so good, the power surging through her, the screams, the horror she caused. She loved it! She simply loved it! She-

_Bang!_

The door was slammed open, and with a jolt, Bellatrix jumped out of her chair, her eyes wide as she looked around her.

There were no Death Eaters surrounding her, and there was no Dark Lord by her side... Lucius was not standing across from her, laughing, and Draco wasn't standing by his mother, smirking as she tortured the muggles. She was in the body of a four-year-old again, wearing that hideous blue dress her "mother" had forced her in that morning.

Had she fallen asleep...? It seemed like it.

But the screams. There were still screams. Frantically looking around her for the source of it, Bellatrix's eyes landed on Susanne and Philip, both of whom were sitting in a corner, huddled together and sobbing as the adults surrounding them tried to calm them down.

'What happened here?' The king asked as he turned to the former Death Eater, who just shook her head.

'I don't know.' She answered, truthfully for once.

* * *

><p>To say the king and queen of Accidia had not been satisfied with her first show of accidental magic, would be an understatement.<p>

Her "father" wasn't just displeased with that day's incidents, he was furious at the supposed four-year-old for whatever it was she had done. He was determined that it _had_ been her, because it simply couldn't have been anyone else, but even then... he just couldn't figure out _what_ exactly it was his daughter had done to the kids of the archduke.

No matter how he looked at it, or how he examined it, how he twisted his brain to come up with a plausible explanation, the king could find no way, no loophole, that would've allowed his daughter to do something like that. He only knew that whatever it was, it had resulted in the soiling of the family name, and that was was something he did not appreciate.

He had ordered the servants, guards and any other castle personnel to keep watch over her 24/7. He had even given up some of his time signing documents and raising taxes just to give Bellatrix a good talking to, assuring that it was drilled into her mind she was not to do whatever it was she had done again or there would be serious consequences awaiting her.

It wouldn't do for a princess like her to gain a bad reputation. She was a lady, a _princess_, and such behavior was not suited to someone of her standing.

The queen had made a point of staying away from Bellatrix as well, because humans feared what they could not understand, and so muggles feared magic. She seemed to have decided to just continue her life pretending Bellatrix wasn't there, or at the very least, that she wasn't the child she had given birth to.

They met up for meals and the queen always commented on what she did wrong, whether that was not sitting straight, or not acting like a lady, but other than that she was detached. It was how she had always acted anyway, so there wasn't a real change in the queen.

Bellatrix didn't mind. It wasn't as if she was _really_ a child anyway, she had long since been through the age when she desired a parent's doting and devotion, her "parents" keeping their distance, came as nothing but a convenience to the former Death Eater.

After her daily lessons on proper etiquette and general education, Bellatrix was free to do what she desired. She hadn't managed to activate that weird power again, but was intrigued by it all the same. It could be used as a weapon, she knew it.

Philip might've managed to recover soon enough after the incident, having returned home and happily living on his life, but he hadn't been the one to receive the full blow of whatever that had been... little Susanne wasn't nearly as lucky as her younger brother.

What Bellatrix heard were only rumors, maids were whispering about it in the hallways, trying to be inconspicuous but miserably failing. The cook had been talking to the butler about it in hushed tones. The old ladies that had yet to retire gossiped about it non-stop, sending Bellatrix curious glances every time she passed by them.

One would have to be an idiot not to notice.

Susanne was apparently still in the hospital, the mental trauma caused to her so big that the doctors (muggle healers, from what Bellatrix understood) had doubts about when or _if_ she would even recover at all. She was refusing to speak, haunted by nightmares and mumbling things about a red-eyed man without a nose, princess Bellatrix, people laughing while she was dangling upside down from her ankle in the air, funny words none of them could understand and _pain_. The mere mention of Accidia's four-year-old princess sent her into hysterics, it was so bad apparently, that they had to sedate her once or twice.

It was obvious to Bellatrix that this was the aftermath of what had happened in her dream. Those muggle children had seen it too, the Dark Lord and all of his Death Eaters, they had experienced the curses and she was sure that had it gone on for a while longer, Susanne would've ended up in the same condition Alice and Frank Longbottom had after she was done with those two stupid blood traitors.

With no more useless play dates to take up her already limited free time (no parent was foolish enough to still want their children to have any contact with Bellatrix after what had happened), Bellatrix finally had some time to do something useful, not to mention, in the light of the newer events, she also finally had something useful to actually _do_.

She wanted to find out more about what it was that had happened back then, it hadn't _felt_ like accidental magic, she hadn't gotten angry, or scared or anything after all. She was bored, but boredom had never caused someone's withheld magic to burst through unless they were really powerful, in which case they might actually even be able to control it.

_But she wasn't able to control it._ Or else she'd have repeated the process already.

She was just bored out of her wits, and finally fell asleep. How had she brought Susanne and Philip into her dream? Was that even what had actually happened? Bellatrix couldn't think of anything else... but even if it had happened, wouldn't that require some pretty powerful magic? Surely it couldn't have been caused by someone just trying to sleep their boredom away? Wandlessly and not even trying?

It couldn't have been her occlumency, she might've had some control over it and while it was true that a really good occlumens could probably modify one's memories, play around with their mind a bit, her skills never got that far, she was sure that she couldn't possibly have somehow managed it while asleep. _But what exactly was it then?_

Truth was, Bellatrix had no idea. And it was annoying, frustrating beyond belief that now that she finally had a weapon she could use against the king and queen within her grasp she had no idea what it was, or how to use it.

It was no common magic, that much she was sure of.

So for hours, days, _weeks_ she searched the royal family's library. She hated libraries, had avoided the one back at Hogwarts like it was the plague, opting to just kindly persuade (threaten) her classmates into doing anything that required research for her, but she had to admit that her only chance at getting some answers this time around was the huge library the king and queen of Accidia owned.

It was truly huge, with books on all kinds of subjects, muggle mathematics, family trees, foreign countries, weapons, countless of self-guides for anything you could possibly need, books about herbs, doorknobs (why the hell anyone would read a book about _doorknobs_, of all things, Bellatrix had no idea), bird species, architecture, and ancient myths. Regulus, being the little nerdish prefect he was, would probably give anything to get his hands on some of the books the former Death Eater had found lying on the shelves, getting dusty and accumulating spiderwebs.

Bellatrix on the other hand, wasn't all too thrilled. There were _millions_ of books, small, big, old, new, some of them seemed to be on the brink of falling apart and others looked like they had just been bought yesterday... many of them not even written in English. And Bellatrix had no idea where to start.

So she just picked out a few that seemed promising, heaving a sigh and reluctantly sitting down at a table to start her research.

This was going to take a while.

* * *

><p>As December 22nd rolled around Bellatrix could be found confined in the library, a big old french book about something called "illusions" opened up in front of her as she attentively read, the overhead lamp giving her enough light to do so.<p>

Her eyes were starting to hurt from the lack of sleep, and she could feel her eyelids drooping, but the former Death Eater would not budge. It was nearing sunrise now, but it was safe to say that everyone inside the castle was wide awake already.

It was a snowy day, just like every previous day of December had been, but today, it seemed to be even colder than usual... maybe it was because Bellatrix was sitting in a stone room in nothing but her nightgown on. None of the servants had come by to light the fire yet after all, and usually they were already long lit by ten am, when Bellatrix would come by to continue her research.

The former Death Eater supposed that their schedules had been thrown a bit off track today, the house elves had after all been running around like headless chickens when Draco had been born... she supposed that this was somehow similar.

Her own schedule had been thrown out of the window as well after all, there was no sleeping out that morning in the end, despite of what she had planned the night before. She felt like it had barely been a minute since her head touched the pillow when she was awoken by the complete chaos that erupted around the castle at three am.

Apparently, her "mother" had felt the need to get a glass of water in the middle of the night and collapsed in the hallways when her waters broke. With everyone running around like crazy and panicking as they tried to phone a doctor (as luck should have it the one that usually resided inside their castle had left on vacation as the queen wasn't due for two more weeks) and prepare the queen for birth, there was no way Bellatrix could possibly go back to sleep. So she grudgingly decided to go study a bit more.

She had recently stumbled upon a book that seemed somewhat promising, so she decided that she might as well read a bit until all the noise died down. She might've despised being forced to learn the language in her previous life (her mother had wanted to impress the minister by having her daughters speaking fluent French at the Christmas banquet) but she couldn't deny that it was coming in handy now.

She had never heard of the things called "illusions" in her previous life, but it was the closest thing to magic she had come across in this world. It was basically tricking the mind, creating something out of nothing and nothing out of something. It was the ability to play with one's mind and if a person was strong enough, he or she might even be able to create what was known as a _real illusion_, an illusion that could cause real harm.

It made sense, that since almost nothing else was the same as it had been in her previous world, magic would differ as well. She wasn't sure how these "illusions" worked yet, but she knew that if she could somehow teach herself how to use them, it would greatly aid her escape from that place...

'Princess...' Bellatrix looked up as Caroline slipped inside the room. The maid was tired, but she still tried to hide it as she smiled at the little girl. 'We've been looking for you... you father asked me to come take you to your siblings.' Bellatrix didn't understand why she smiled at someone else having become a big sister... it wasn't all that big of an event, and the former Death Eater wasn't really interested in those two brats anyway, all they would do was be in her way...

She could already imagine it, all the crying and dirty diapers... disgusting... really, why would _anyone _want to have a child? Other than getting the family line going, Bellatrix could see no other reason.

Narcissa had been delighted to have a little baby to coo over though, and she was pretty sure it wasn't just because of Draco's bloodline. It was just in her sister's nature, she supposed, she needed someone to dote on, before Draco there had been Regulus after all... Not to mention the Weasleys... they had had seven of those. Bellatrix never understood why they would bother when they barely had enough money to feed themselves, let alone seven growing brats.

'Do I have to?' The Death Eater grimaced, pulling herself out of her thoughts as she realized the maid was still looking at her expectantly, she had a feeling she already knew the answer to her question. Caroline looked surprised for a moment, but in the end managed to pull herself together.

'Don't you want to meet your little brothers?' Bellatrix didn't get why she sounded so surprised.

'No.'

'Ah... well...' Caroline bit her lip. 'How about just one glance... surely you're curious?'

'Not really. I just want to sleep.'

'I-it's on the way to your bedroom, princess...! Just a look?'

Bellatrix sighed as slammed her book shut, having made sure to mark the page before doing so. What was it with that damn muggle's persistence? Was it so uncommon for someone not to be interested in her siblings? The only reason why she hadn't killed Andromeda in her previous life was because the filthy blood traitor knew how to hide too well... well, she did get her daughter at least... served her right too, reproducing with a _werewolf_.

'Fine.' The four-year-old sighed, if only just to get rid of the annoying maid. 'Just make it fast.'

'I knew you'd be curious.'

Bellatrix didn't bother to point out she wasn't curious, she just wanted her to shut up, and if this was what it took, then fine. The young "princess" followed Caroline down the now familiar halls as she was led to the room her "brothers" were in.

Things had already quieted down quite a bit, and servants seemed to be going on with their daily routines again. The queen was resting, and the king was back in his office, doing whatever it was he did all day long.

She already knew where her "brothers" would be, so really, the escort wasn't needed. The King had been getting the room ready for a while now so that when the young princes or princesses arrived, they'd have a room ready. She was thankful she wasn't forced to share, but she would've been even more thankful if their room wasn't right opposite of hers...

It was dark, so Caroline switched the light on, staying back and letting Bellatrix wander over to the crib situated in the middle of the room. As embarrassing and annoying as it was, to actually see her "brothers" she had to stand on her tiptoes.

And really... it wasn't anything special...

Just two pink chubby babies wrapped in a golden cloth. They seemed to already have been washed out at least, and were now dozing off. Whether they sensed someone there or if it was some noise she made, Bellatrix wasn't sure, but slowly, the one on the right opened his eyes and looked at her.

Bellatrix found her eyes widening and her jaw dropped slightly open.

There were two red irises staring back at her. _Red_. Just like the color of blood. Just like- just like the eyes of her Dark Lord.

'Which one is that baby?' She asked, pointing at the red-eyed baby, the volume of her voice having startled the second baby enough to open his eyes as well. They were blue... she wasn't interested in him.

'That is the younger twin, princess. His name is Belphegor. Prince Belphegor.'

* * *

><p><strong>And so Bel is finally born! Yay!<strong>

**Anyway, I just wanted to make something clear, I am aware that some of the Death Eaters' (Draco's) reaction isn't really in character and some (Regulus, Snape) clearly aren't really on Voldemort's side, but keep in mind that this dream/illusion is something created by Bellatrix's imagination. She doesn't actually see things as they are, just as she thinks they are. So yeah, even though it's more than clear Draco did not enjoy being a Death Eater, Bella was under the impression he did like it. The same goes for Reg, the guy gave his life to destroy one of Voldemort's horcruxes, but Bellatrix never knew about that, did she?**

**So... thanks for taking the time to read my story and please review! *bows***


	5. Little brother

Babies, as Bellatrix still remembered from the time when Draco had just been born, weren't very exciting to watch. They were in fact, if you asked the dark-haired Death Eater, about the most boring thing you could ever have the misfortune of laying your eyes on. Unfortunately, even the twin princes of Accidia didn't prove to be an exception to this rule.

They were just two regular babies, really. They might be lying on the softest and most expensive sheets out there, and their cribs might be crafted beautifully by experts only the very rich could afford to hire (just like it was after all befitted to their status), but in all honesty, the twin princes that had been born on December 22nd were just like any other pair of babies out there. At that point of her life, Bellatrix would've even dared say they were _boring_.

They didn't really do much other than just lie in their cribs all day long and cry whenever something was amiss, whether that was them being hungry, or just needing a change of diaper. Maids would then rush over to tend to their needs as soon as possible (the royal couple didn't like the ruckus their sons' crying caused) and everyone could go on with their lives until something else was wrong with either of the twins again. It was daily life, and the brothers went through it just lying there... sucking on their pacifiers and watching the maids and butlers walk by, falling asleep whenever they felt like it and waking up again at the most absurd hours of the night, only to start crying again a little while later when they decided they wanted food or attention. It was like some kind of an annoying endless cycle. The former Death Eater couldn't really blame them for that though, she still remembered how horribly boring it had been for her when she was a baby, there had _literally_ been nothing to do other than lie wherever she had been placed down and stare off into space, her legs still too weak to be able to support her weight and get up.

But still, she sometimes wished the twins would just zip it. Whenever one of them woke up, the other would be awoken by the former's crying and then both of them would be awake, and, worst of all, wailing like a couple of dying banshees.

Sadly, nothing of much interest happened in that year. Bellatrix tried to find out as much as she could on illusions in her free time but even that was very difficult, there weren't a lot of books on them after all and the king had been furious when she made the mistake of asking him for some more books on the particular subject. He immediately had any book that had even a miniscule tiny bit of information to do with them removed from the castle's library. Apparently, though not widely known, illusions were regarded as a bad thing by the muggles that had heard of them. They were used by the Italian mafia (she still didn't know what that was, but by the way muggles that had mentioned it talked about it, it probably wasn't anything good) and her "father" didn't want his kingdom's princess meddling with those horrid things. He forbid her from talking about the subject or looking it up ever again but it was foolish, really, because the king's warnings and threats only got the witch more interested.

That proved it, after all. If the mere mention of those "illusions" got the man so worked up that he suddenly had the time to have a private chat with Bellatrix, they were definitely worth learning and mastering.

She wasn't sure how exactly she was going to do that yet with all books that could've possibly helped her currently out of her reach... but she wasn't in a hurry anyway. She still had time, Bellatrix told herself, since she now had a reason to stay where she was for just a while longer, in order to satisfy her curiosity.

Bellatrix would be lying if she said she had not taken an interest in the prince named Belphegor ever since she laid eyes on him the day he was born. She liked the name for one, it sounded like something the Blacks might've used as well if they ever ran out of constellations and stars to name their kids after. It was the name of a demon, and she found that it rather suited his red eyes.

They were unique, something she had only seen in one person before, a person she had the utmost respect for, and seeing those ruby red eyes made a thrill of excitement pass through the former Death Eater. At the very least, the dark-haired witch wanted to see how that child would turn out.

Bellatrix seemed to be the only one that thought this way though, because while usually something unusual like the boy's eyes would have been a good thing for the royal family (just one more thing to set them apart from all the worthless peasants living in their kingdom), this time they seemed to have found it foreboding.

From the moment Belphegor's hair was long enough, they made sure to cut it that way that his long blonde bangs covered his eyes completely, it looked rather weird and suspicious in Bellatrix's opinion, but no one questioned the king and queen's decision. They even gave Rasiel, the older twin, the same hairstyle despite him having perfectly normal (boring, if you asked the witch) blue eyes. Perhaps to stop the questions about why only one member of the royal family had his eyes covered.

They seemed to think that if both boys had that same absurd hairstyle (honestly, it looked utterly ridiculous), people might overlook it thinking it was some weird kind of fashion quirk the kids found cool. Bellatrix was only happy she had not been forced to do the same, for not even in a million years would she be caught having such a stupid hairstyle, the tiara alone was already quite enough (not that she ever wore _that_ either).

She personally didn't get what all the fuss was about, it was simply a pair of eyes, and if you asked Bellatrix, they were so much nicer eyes than Rasiel's blue ones anyway. Red was the color of blood, they were so much more suited to a prince of a kingdom such as that of Accidia, a kingdom whose rulers were ruthless and cruel. It was a perfect symbolization, unlike the firstborn's blue eyes, which were like the sky and would suggest innocence... _hah,_ _if only_.

Once again the king and queen didn't seem to share her view on things though, and they insisted Belphegor never show his eyes to anyone, they drilled it into his mind from before he could even start to comprehend the meaning of the words that were spoken, he was to keep his eyes hidden at all times, no matter what. It didn't really matter if Rasiel pushed his bangs out of his face once in a while in order to get a better look at something, the moment the younger twin dared do it though, the king was always furious. And no one liked getting on the king's bad side.

He wasn't a man you wanted to cross.

Still, the boy complained a lot about not being able to see properly, saying that all that hair kept tickling him and that it was annoying, but their parents wouldn't have any of it. He simply had to "get used to it", they said, and "he should be able to, since he was a prince", always adding as an after though that "after all, Rasiel never complained about his hair bothering him".

After that last one had been uttered, the Death Eater never heard a complaint about his hairstyle leave the younger prince's lips again. She had been sitting at the dining table right next to him that night, and she remembered him scowling, his appetite lost for the evening as he pushed his plate away, clenching his tiny fists under the table and settling for silently glaring at his twin. The easiest and most effective way to dampen Belphegor's mood was without doubt comparing him to Rasiel. Bellatrix knew it, and so did the other members of the royal family. They never forgot to somehow rub it into the conversation either, playing favourites so obviously in order to manipulate him into doing what they wanted.

It was as clear as daylight in the witch's eyes, the fact that Belphegor was jealous. If he was ever asked, Bellatrix had no doubt that Belphegor would vehemently try to deny it, but it was so clear... he was jealous of all the attention his twin got, because no matter what he did, or how hard he tried, the one that always stole the spotlight in the end was Rasiel, just because he was the firstborn, and thus the rightful heir to the throne.

He always tried hard to impress their parents, to get just a little bit of the affection Rasiel got. He always had more presents, and though it was rare, the queen would sometimes smile at him, and the king would always praise him when he'd achieved something new, whatever the younger twin did, unless it was something bad, usually went by unnoticed. Bellatrix failed to see why Belphegor would strive for something as unimportant as that, the affection they showed was after all miniscule, even when it was directed at Rasiel. But there was no reasoning with a child.

Belphegor was determined, she would give him that.

He was a stubborn little boy, and when he decided something there was no way he would back down. He didn't complain about his bangs since then, keeping his problems to himself and trying to go through his days as normal. Bellatrix lost count of how many times she had to keep a three-year-old from tumbling down the stairs and breaking his neck because the kid had difficulty making out the steps.

She supposed Belphegor eventually got used to his strange hairstyle though, for after a while he seemed to have no problems navigating around the castle any longer, running down the long halls and staircases with ease.

Which was, as a matter of fact, what he was doing right now.

'Bella!' The small four-year-old shouted out as he ran down the stairs at full speed, almost knocking over a bucket with soap water that had been placed there by a maid a little while earlier. He somehow managed to jump over it, by some miracle not slipping and cracking his skull open as he landed a few steps further down, simply going on with running towards his "sister" afterwards. 'Bella!'

Bellatrix, who had stopped walking in order to look back over her shoulder a few moments ago, when the first of the boy's repetitive cries was heard, turned around completely. She sniffed a bit at being addressed by such a childish nickname, but let it go. Apparently, "Bellatrix" had been too much of a challenge for the twins to pronounce when they were only two years old and just learning how to talk, constantly coming up with weird alienated variations of her name ("Bellwix" and "Brellanix" being just two of the many). She supposed it was her own fault for unthinkingly introducing the younger to the name "Bella" one day.

'Where are you going?'

Bellatrix might've rolled her eyes, that is at least, if it wasn't for the slight irritation that had started to make itself evident.

Lately, the boy had become like a shadow, an irritating shadow that despite all her efforts Bellatrix just could not seem to get rid of no matter how hard she tried. He would follow her everywhere, and Bellatrix wondered if it was just normal for little kids his age to follow their older siblings around. She remembered Narcissa being quite hard to shake off as well, she hadn't really minded it back then though, quite on the contrary, if the witch's memory served her correctly she had soaked up the attention like a sponge. Not only that, but Regulus had always followed his big brother around too back in their childhood, practically worshiping the kid and unnecessarily inflating his ego. Looking back, it had been rather as if the two of them had been glued together with a permanent sticking charm or something... the same could pretty much be said about Belphegor and Bellatrix, the witch reasoned, since the kid seemed to somehow always be around her.

How she could've ever enjoyed this in the past, the dark-haired Slytherin had no idea.

'My room.' Bellatrix finally said, just hoping the child would get the hint and leave. No such luck of course.

'Your room's the other way, Bella.' The small blonde boy stated as he raised a disbelieving eyebrow under his long blonde bangs, the former Death Eater's attempt to shake the kid off being either ignored or simply not noticed. 'So, where are you really going? It's somewhere father said we shouldn't, isn't it?'

Oh dear Merlin, Bellatrix felt the urge to groan to herself in frustration, now she'd actually managed to get the boy excited about nothing... just what had she done to deserve this? … Alright... so maybe she had killed a... considerably large amount of people, and she wouldn't be surprised if the number of people she'd crucio-ed to insanity in her previous life doubled those she had killed, but those were all muggles, blood-traitors and mudbloods, there was nothing wrong with giving that scum their due. All she had wanted was to get the kid off her tail...

_Well, _a sarcastic little voice inside her mind said,_ that went well._

The former Death Eater frowned as she watched her "brother" for a little while longer, Belphegor sounded so... _eager_ at the possibility of potential mischief. Che, that sounded so, so... so damn _Gryffindor_. The Death Eater's eyes narrowed.

Disgusting.

But no, Bellatrix knew that Belphegor was nothing like those reckless idiots foolishly running towards their deaths playing hero. He'd practically been cooped up in this damn place since birth, just as she had been. His parents were overbearing and whenever their attention was focused on him instead of his brother for once, it was usually not to tell him anything good. It was just his way of letting off some steam.

Bel might be the youngest of the royal twins, the youngest of the royal children, and thus the one that had in theory less authority and power out of them all, but he was still a prince. And a prince, no matter how young, was still leagues apart from peasants, maids, servants and whatnot. It was not a lot, but it was something.

And even a little amount of power, she knew from experience, when in the hands of someone that knew how to use it, could be dangerous.

Belphegor was after all a smart kid, sometimes she thought he might even be bordering to genius. Bellatrix often watched in amazement as the boy solved puzzles and games that she would've never bothered with but looked like stuff fifth or sixth year Ravenclaws might've enjoyed doing in their free time instead in a matter of mere minutes, seconds even sometimes. She still remembered that annoying cube with those stupid little colored square blocks (how was it called again? Oh right, a Rubik's cube or some rubbish like that) she had been trying to solve correctly for an hour and fifty-six damn minutes, she had thrown it aside in frustration only to have Belphegor pick it up and solve the thing in forty seconds. Had it been humanly possible, her jaw would've hit the ground back then.

Belphegor had only scowled though, the same thing had apparently taken Rasiel thirty-seven seconds to accomplish. Bellatrix didn't see the reason for which he had been so disappointed, she had been struggling with the damn thing for nearly _two hours_ for Merlin's sake, and she still did not manage to solve it!

It was only later that she would realize that incident with the Rubik's cube was only one of the first "lets see who is better" competitions between the brothers.

It was also obvious that Belphegor didn't regard the rules much, he loved causing trouble for people, deliberately running into various castle personnel when they were carrying heavy (preferably breakable) objects or tripping the maid while she was getting ready to pour wine in their guests' glasses. And yet, he was still cautious, all his targets were always people he knew would (or more likely, _could_) not tell on him. He picked people who, even when he was so young, he knew would be powerless against him. Never had he (directly) tried to pull anything on one of their father's acquaintances, the dukes, barons, marquises or, of course, the king and queen themselves.

That way of thinking, it was distinctly _Slytherin_.

'It doesn't matter.' The former Death Eater finally said. 'Lets just go, it should be about dinner time soon.'

* * *

><p>Dinner was, as always, a silent affair. Nothing else other than the sound of cutlery brushing up against plates and slight chewing could be heard throughout the room as the royal family ate their dinner, freshly served by two maids whose names Bellatrix couldn't be bothered enough to remember.<p>

The king and queen were seated next to each other on one side of the long table, more or less ignoring each other's existence altogether as they ate their dinner, the only time they spoke being to reprimand one of their children. If Bellatrix was told to straighten her back and not look so gloomy one more time, she swore she'd go crazy. Their kids were seated right opposite of them, following their parents' lead and staying quiet as well. One would be led to think that they were having some kind of a feud among themselves and now refused to talk to each other, but really, this was how they acted every day. The king and queen weren't interested in idle small-talk, and even their kids weren't allowed to talk to each other during dinnertime, it was indeed rather as if they were not a family but complete strangers instead.

Still, despite the silence that seemed to be filling the room, Bellatrix was quite aware of the kicking war that had started right next to her. Their parents seemed to either not have noticed it or simply be ignoring it, but to the black haired "princess" it was quite clear that the twins had once again gotten in some kind of a fight as they now took to inconspicuously trying to kick each other under the table.

By the smug look on Rasiel's face as well as the the annoyed frown on Bel's, Bellatrix thought it was safe to assume that the one to initiate this had been the oldest of the twins.

'_Stop it...!_' Bel hissed at his brother, kicking his leg to emphasize his point as he glanced up at the king and queen for a second in order to make sure they had not heard or noticed anything. They luckily had not, as their attention was currently on the maid pouring wine in their glasses, asking them when they wanted the dessert to be served.

Rasiel just gave his brother what Bellatrix was sure would've been a mean look had his eyes only been visible and if the way Belphegor's scowl deepened was anything to go by, he was kicked once again.

'_I'm not kidding, Rasiel! Cut it out...!'_

_'Make me.' _Rasiel whispered back, snickering a bit. The king and queen were still deciding which dessert would suit their tastes this afternoon.

'_I'll tell father you're annoying me!'_

'_Then I'll tell him you started it.'_

_'Did not...!' _Rasiel shrugged, flashing his brother a toothy little grin.

'_Maybe, but it's not you he'll believe in the end, truth or not.'_

Belphegor scowled, clenching his fork in his fist and turning his attention back to his plate. As much as he hated to admit it, all three of the siblings were well aware of who the king favoured, and it sure as hell wasn't the red-eyed twin.

Bellatrix watched her "little brother" out of the corner of her eye as she went on eating, interested in seeing what he would do, she could see him getting irritated as he simply picked at his food, trying and failing to ignore Rasiel's foot constantly hitting his leg. He was holding his fork so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. It surely wouldn't be long until-

'I told you to stop it!'

Rasiel let out a surprised yelp, toppling over and falling off his chair rather ungracefully. He didn't bother to get up, seeming too be in too much of a shock as he held his hand close to his chest in a protective manner. His blue eyes, which had been unveiled while he fell over, were wide, watching his brother wearily. Bellatrix couldn't help but smirk a little at his reaction, but then again, he did have a reason to be bewildered. There was a silver fork stabbed on the table's surface, and had he not moved away the exact same moment he did, it would've been stabbed right through the skin of his hand.

'Belphegor!' The king growled out as he abruptly stood up, glaring at his son as the queen was still sitting next to him, her eyes wide and surprised.

'He was kicking me the whole time! And he wouldn't stop!'

'Our legs only touched, I never kicked him!' Rasiel cried out from his position on the floor, apparently not shocked quite enough yet to stop him from lying. 'H-h-he just tried to stab me out of nowhere, father! Honest!'

'You were kicking me, you lying prick!'

'Belphegor!' Their father's voice was sharper this time, and it shut both of the princes up. 'I don't know if Rasiel was annoying you but all _I _saw was you suddenly attacking your brother with a knife, you could've seriously hurt him. Such language and behavior doesn't suit a prince and it will not be tolerated, you should know that already. Now apologize to your brother and immediately go to your room.'

'But-'

'_Now.'_ Belphegor glared at his smug-looking brother as he turned to him and grumbled out a barely audible "sorry". The king cleared his throat and the younger prince's shoulders slumped in defeat.

'That was uncalled for... I,' He clenched his fists 'I'm sorry... Rasiel.' The older blonde sniggered as the king nodded, apparently satisfied with the obviously insincere apology. Maybe he just realized that was the best he'd get from the younger twin.

It was a bad enough hit to the boy's pride anyway, considering that they never had to apologize about anything to anyone, being princes and all.

'Now go to your room, and Bellatrix, you go with him, to your own room and stay there until we tell you otherwise.'

'_What?'_

'That should be "excuse me" or "I'm sorry", "what" is impolite, not to mention disrespectful.' Bellatrix honestly didn't give a damn about whether or not the way she spoke was disrespectful, so she simply brushed it aside.

'Yes, but _why _should _I_-'

'For teaching your brother all those foul words peasants use, don't think we haven't noticed your language.'

_Oh crap_... well, to be fair, it wasn't _her_ fault the kid followed her around all day long, of course he'd hear her swearing now and then... it was completely his own decision to repeat the things he learned from her. She knew better than to voice this though and, rolling her eyes, she pushed her chair back and got up. Whatever, it wasn't like she wanted to hang around all those annoying muggles anyway.

'I hate Rasiel.' Bel bitterly said as they left the dining room. 'He always does these kind of things...'

Not being able to find anything she could say to oppose what her "little brother" said, the black-haired witch simply nodded.

Rasiel was a pest, and that was putting it kindly, he was an insolent little brat that could do with learning his place. Obviously though, as long as he was in his parents' favour (and that didn't seem to be something that was going to change anytime soon), his behavior towards both her and Bel would remain unchanged. A good stinging hex was exactly what the brat needed, if you asked Bellatrix.

'What's a stinging hex?' Bellatrix blinked. She'd been thinking aloud...? Shaking her head a bit, the former Death Eater turned to the curious four-year-old walking alongside her. His head was tilted upwards and he seemed to be awaiting an answer. 'Is it something you can do with those "illusion" things you've been reading about?'

Sometimes his age caused Bellatrix to forget just how perceptive Belphegor could be, but he was a genius after all, and his intelligence was half the reason why she enjoyed his company more than any of the other muggles. The other half was his _insanity_.

They managed to hide it rather well, but all the members of the royal family were insane to some degree, it ran in the family. Bellatrix knew how to recognize it though, even when it was hidden, because she herself wasn't the sanest person out there either.

As long as she wasn't somehow directly involved (having objects being chucked at you because they missed their initial target wasn't very enjoyable) the witch loved observing Belphegor and Rasiel's fights, mainly because that was when _it_ emerged. It wasn't often, and it wasn't long, just like it hadn't been earlier today when Bel tried to stab Rasiel in the hand. But his eyes, his eyes during those short few moments... Bellatrix couldn't help but grin as she saw it clearly when his hair shifted. The insanity, the _sadism_... she had never before believed it when those worthless blood traitors claimed that muggles could be alike to wizards and witches, the obviously superior race, but now, after having been forced to live with them for this long... she wasn't that sure anymore... because to her, it seemed like Belphegor was a mirror image of her. And maybe that was why she tolerated him as well.

The witch chuckled. Well, _who would've guessed_...

'It's nothing.' She simply said, opting to change the subject. 'Rasiel looked pretty shocked back there,' she grinned, 'hell, he looked ready to piss himself. I bet he would've if you'd gone on, he might've even cried!'

Bel seemed to instantly perk up at this, giggling a bit at the image of his usually superior-acting brother scared enough to shed tears and piss himself. Undoubtedly, that would've been awesome.

'Hey Bella...'

'Hmm?'

'Do you think this counted as a victory in my favour? Even though we were the ones that ended up getting in trouble?'

'Obviously.' The death eater nodded. 'Didn't you see how scared Rasiel was? He squeaked like a pig when he fell out of his chair!'

'Right!' The youngest prince grinned happily, and it looked like it would take the longest time for that grin to be wiped off of his face. 'I want to make Rasiel cry the next time! There will be more victories, and eventually, I'll be the one left standing!'

Bellatrix smirked. Yes, yes he would.

One day, Rasiel would find himself six feet under, and Belphegor would be the one responsible. Even if he didn't know it yet.


	6. The beginning

It had been during a rather normal, boring day, that Bellatrix had discovered _it_.

It had been hot... almost insufferably so. It was one of those days on which you didn't feel like doing absolutely anything other than sitting in a chair all day long and drinking lemonade, the muggle machine called the 'air conditioner' set on full blast right overhead.

The cicadas were being loud, and it was annoying Bellatrix.

Her knee-length light blueish-green dress was sticking to her legs, even the feeling of the expensive sandals on her feet seemed insufferable.

The ice-cubes in her drink were melting too fast.

Her skin itched from all the bug bites she had gotten that night... it had been an admittedly bad idea to leave the window open all night while the light was on as well. She also discovered that bug spray was absolutely useless that night. Orgelt had put some sort of salve over the red marks on her skin, telling her not to scratch them... but damn. Those fucking things _itched_!

The coronet that kept sliding off her head was only proving to be a further factor of annoyance.

Yeah, pretty much everything got on her nerves that morning.

So as she sat in one of the armchairs situated in the currently cool living room, an empty glass on the table next to her and a book she was paying no attention to opened up in her lap, it was safe to say that other than being utterly irritated and annoyed by anything and everything going on, she was also... bored out of her mind.

Bel wasn't around like he usually would be, the aftermath of Rasiel trying to push him down a flight of stairs having ended with a sprained ankle in the younger twin's case and a broken arm for Rasiel. Right now, both of them were 'resting' in their shared bedroom... Bellatrix sincerely doubted that was what her little brothers _really_ were up to though, they were probably still fighting in some way or the other. She didn't feel like getting involved right now... that would require too much effort on her part.

Checking up on the twins was thus out of the question.

There were no lessons today either, her etiquette teacher being away on a two-week-long vacation and leaving her a lot of free time. The man that taught them languages and math got sick after he ate a cupcake Bel had initially prepared for his brother a week ago and from what the witch heard, he was still throwing his guts up to this day. Their horse-riding tutor... well, he got fired a while back, after an accident that happened during his class which involved Rasiel trying to knock Bel off the horse he was on.

The King and Queen were both too busy with their own petty lives and the stability of the kingdom to care about their children much... even Rasiel had been shown to be brushed aside as they spent almost their days talking to other nobles and dealing with all the 'peasants' that were constantly causing problems... the one after the other... it was rather obvious, even to Bellatrix, that this whole thing was stressing to the royal couple, especially the King, on whose shoulders most of the weight automatically fell. He didn't back down though, not even for a moment. Which only made him more dislikeable to his people. It was an endless cycle, but really, as long as it didn't directly pose a problem for the former Death Eater, she honestly didn't care.

So it had just been a normal day of that cursed summer. Until, in her quest to find a less warm place to sit in (she got tired of sitting and just waiting for something to happen by itself), she stumbled across a door with a "Do not enter" sign. She didn't care, she wouldn't even have considered going in, if it wasn't for the cool gust of wind that hit her feet as she walked past.

It was a basement, and it was just like any other basement. Dark, smelly and dirty. It was cooler in there than in the rest of the castle though. Which was probably because there were no windows but one.

A window which only a child (standing on a stack of furniture) could possibly fit through, a window that led to a part of the woods that surrounded the castle but the kids were never before allowed to get close to... they couldn't even if they wanted. The gates and guards wouldn't let them... and Bellatrix could say this with confidence, because damn, she had tried. There should be no way out of the castle and to the rest of the kingdom... unless they decided to jump from a really high balcony (in which case they would either be heavily injured upon hitting the ground or found out some point, because _someone _was bound to notice)... or climb out through that little window.

* * *

><p>The nearest peasant town was a two-hour walk away from the castle.<p>

It's name was _Gehenna_.

It wasn't big, or impressive, or even nice. It was in fact the absolute opposite of all that. It was okay in size, the girl supposed, but it was dark, dirty, and completely run down. On a degree, the place reminded Bellatrix of Knockturn Alley.

The people walking around were haunted, afraid, hating... weak. They lived in poverty, that much was indeed sure. It was obvious from how thin the children playing in the dirty roads and alleyways were. How hopeless people looked.

The buildings themselves were in no better state. They were run down, bricks showing through from underneath where the paint had been scraped off. Windows were broken. Some rags Bellatrix could only assume were clothes were hanging from the washing line.

As she had walked down the uneven cobbled streets of some random alleyway, she didn't think it would be big-headed of her to say that her simple dress was easily the most expensive thing there.

People stared at her like she was something foreign, something weird. And she was. She wasn't malnourished and she was clean, her hair neatly brushed, her clothes far prettier than anyone else there. She was obviously not from around there.

They never said anything though, and that was fine with Bellatrix. A normal 10-year-old would've been too scared out of her wits to walk around such a scary, horrible place. There were, as everywhere, shady characters lurking around, bandits, people with weird (and possibly dangerous) addictions as they held their shaking hands out, begging for some money... But really, having spent most of her youth (back her previous world at least) following her father around Knockturn Alley... she didn't feel anything as she just explored the place, coming back time and time again, fascinated by the things she found behind shop windows.

Not the whole kingdom was poor and unsightly like Gehenna was, the village just outside it was fairing better already, further away from their ruler's greedy clutches it was more flourished and people definitely looked healthier. They still struggled though. Taxes. There were many of them, and it seemed like they often were more than the people could handle. It was the same in all places Bellatrix managed to get to get to on her trips outside the castle (she always had to keep in mind she couldn't go too far lest she got discovered)... except for the neighborhoods in which the rich people lived.

The nobles, duchesses, marquises. Anyone that had a name or power to show off in this place. Admittedly, she only placed foot there once, not wanting to risk being recognized by anyone. But even that was enough to make the difference between the rich people and the 'peasants' living a few streets further down as clear as crystal.

Big mansions, beautiful gardens, animals, swimming pools... and just a bit further down the houses were so tiny Bellatrix wondered how one person, let alone a family of five, could all fit in there.

She didn't go back there, after a few of those trips she had seen enough to know how things around Accidia were, and there was only one town that continued to appeal to her. And that was, against all odds, Gehenna.

As mentioned before... there were rather interesting shops to be found there.. shop owners that didn't mind selling alcohol or odd little vials with rat poison to kids once they saw the ruby on the ring or the pearls on the necklace she took out and offered. Ancient books that were forgotten in the back of old bookcases... it of course wasn't long until she found exactly what she wanted.

* * *

><p><em>'The term illusion refers to a specific form of sensory distortion. Unlike a hallucination, which is a distortion in absence of a stimulus, an illusion is the manipulation of human's basic senses by an illusionist.'<em>

"Hah! That wasn't even close to me, is that really the best you can do, _brother_?!"

"You won't be laughing when this stone hits your stupid head!"

_'The fooling of ones' sense of sight is the most common form of illusion, as well as the easiest to achieve. This is because sight tends to be what humans rely on the most, thus the easiest to influence. That said,it should definitely be noted that casting an illusion even as simple as an optical one, is by no means easy.'_

Thunk.

Crash.

Swish.

Bang.

_'Optical illusions cannot in principle harm an individual, that is why they are often used in combination with the material reality they are hiding (e.g. A tree, or a wall). Illusionists trick the brain into believing nothing is there, while in reality it is just unseen by the people affected. It should also be said of course that illusionists can by no means manipulate reality, just the perception of others regarding it.'_

"Stuuuupid. You just fell over a piece of furniture...! You're less intelligent than a cockroach!"

"Shut up, Bel!"

"Ow...! Now I'll show you!"

_'More advanced illusionists have been known to be able to fool other senses as well, as well as even harm and kill an individual with the aid of only manipulation of thoughts and senses. Strong illusions like these are called _Real Illusions_, but it is highly unlikely for one to ever come across them, as even in the mafia or other crime organizations where most illusionists can be found, there are only very few that have managed to master their abilities to that level.'_

"I'm telling father on you!"

"Yeah, go run away like the crybaby you are!" Belphegor huffed, throwing the stick he had been holding after his brother, just glaring at the door Rasiel had just left through for a few more seconds before turning to face his sister. Bellatrix had closed the book by then, deciding that now wouldn't be the ideal time for her to be reading... half of it was lost on the twins anyway, their shouting making it almost impossible to concentrate. She watched Belphegor as he walked over to her, plopping down beside her, pulling his legs up and folding them. "I hate Rasiel." He finally murmured. "He's probably going to peg the broken vase on me as well... at least that way I might be grounded though... then I don't have to attend the stupid party."

"I doubt that's going to happen, Bel." The witch sighed. "It's your birthday party." She reminded him.

"It's _Rasiel's_ birthday party."

If there was another thing that made Belphegor weird... it was that despite his age he absolutely despised birthdays, especially his. It made sense though, because even on that day everyone's attention went to Rasiel, people hardly even remembering the boy had a younger twin brother after the first pleasantries and well-wishing.

"Yeah well... you're still expected to attend." Bellatrix decided it was of no use trying to sugar coat matters, Bel was a smart kid after all, he could tell what the truth really was.

"I know that." The boy said, the butter knife he had managed to nick from the breakfast table a few hours prior being held in his hand now as he played with it, carelessly throwing it up in the air, letting it make a spin before it fell again, each time catching it efficiently and with apparent ease. It might've been unnerving, if only the almost 8-year-old hadn't been developing a growing fascination towards knives for the last couple of years... by now he had a small collection of them hidden under his bed, which he proudly showed to Bellatrix a few months ago, and he of course also knew how to use them. "You'll be there as well though, right?"

"Unfortunately."

"Keep me company then, okay? Like every year." Bel sounded lonely as he said that, and she knew that he was. He didn't like other kids, and they didn't like him either... he was too smart for them. Bellatrix simply shrugged.

"Wasn't planning on hanging out with any of the muggles anyway."

"That's right! Only a prince is good enough!"

Bellatrix couldn't help but roll her eyes, smiling a bit at the boy's logic, as childish at it was.

Well, she supposed he _was_ the exception to the rule though. Because Bellatrix hated muggles, it wasn't something she could easily change after having looked down on them for a lifetime. Neither did she want that to change. It was part of who she was, and Bellatrix Black did not associate with filth, no matter which world she lived in. Peasants, muggles, foolish Gryffindors, snobbish nobles that didn't know when to shut up... all of that was the same to her. They were filth, all of them.

It was alright to like this little boy though, it was alright to actually enjoy Belphegor's company, she told herself... because he wasn't a muggle, he was a _prince_.

If she told herself that enough times, Bellatrix might just come to believe it.

* * *

><p>"Thanks."<p>

"No, no." The muggle man said, quickly pulling the expensive piece of jewelry that had just been set in front of him closer to himself and storing it away, a wide smile on his lips. "The pleasure is all mine...!"

Bellatrix nodded, putting the little package away as she turned around, a shout of "don't hesitate to come by again!" being heard as she walked off. The door opened with a creak, the little bell overhead going off as the witch walked out, patting the pocket of her coat, where _it _was.

Gehenna had barely changed at all since the first time Bellatrix visited it, it was still dark and gloomy, and people still looked worn out... even the thick layer of shining white snow didn't seem to have managed to lift the heavy, unpleasant feeling in the atmosphere. If anything, it seemed to make this place even worse to live in... where snow usually made everything look more beautiful, in this situation, the contrast just made Gehenna look even uglier than it already was.

Bellatrix shook her head and took a moment to look around, forcing herself back to reality as she spotted a clock without great difficulty, frowning when she realized it was almost four already. She'd been out for longer than she had expected... Bellatrix decided she'd better start heading back to the castle, because if she wasn't back by six they'd probably notice her absence sooner or later... and that wouldn't be a good thing.

The dark haired girl pulled her warm coat closer to herself, breathing out a white puff of air and quickening her pace a bit, cursing the snow for making it harder to move around that it should've been.

She had become a known face in Gehenna by now, especially in the darkest parts of the town, where all the shady muggles lurked. They no longer bothered to look up or send her questioning looks as she passed, if they wondered why a little girl was wandering on her own around there, they certainly didn't ask her. It should of course always be on the one day that she was hurrying and actually _wanted_ to get back to the castle on time... that some idiot had to suddenly come up to her and block her way.

She moved to the right, intending to make a circle around the random stranger, but her action was copied before she could, not allowing her any space to do as she desired. She clicked her tongue and sidestepped to the left, but the same happened. Sighing, Bellatrix finally decided to look up.

It wasn't somebody she knew, that much the witch was sure of. It was a man in his thirties, and he was glaring at her through his narrowed brown eyes, his hair, almost shoulder-length and probably unwashed, reminded her of Snape, a person she could've continued her whole life without ever being reminded of. She'd never spoken to this person before... but she had seen his face around before, there, in Gehenna.

"Yes?" The witch finally asked, her eyebrows raised. He didn't seem to particularly like her less-than-respectful tone, for his eyebrows furrowed, Bellatrix paid it no heed. She was in a hurry, and petty muggles like him were the last thing on her mind.

"We've seen you 'round before." He finally spoke, and as he gestured at something behind her, Bellatrix noticed for the first time the presence of four other guys around her. "And we don' like it. What's one of _your_ kind doing in Gehenna?"

Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. One of her kind? Really now? Before she could say anything, one of the other muggles spoke up.

"Yeah! We want no nobles here!" He exclaimed, and as he shoved her, she almost lost her balance.

"You rich people are causing us enough misery without coming here!"

"Go back from where you came!"

"Ow!" Bellatrix, hissed as she backed off from the man behind her a bit, rubbing her arm. She might be a witch, and in the castle she might have some sort of power to her disposal with which she could order people around... but Bellatrix knew her limits. Down there she doubted her tittle as princess would help her much. From what she had gathered, the conversation she'd overheard and the things she'd been told... the royal family wasn't very well liked in Gehenna.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Yeah, we're not done with you... my daughter could use that coat. She'd love it."

"Hey! Keep your bloody hands off me!"

"Snarky, aren't you? You should shut up and we won't beat you to a bloody pulp."

They were closing in on her, and Bellatrix didn't like it. She didn't like the hands reaching for her and trying to take anything valuable away either. Half of the buttons on her coat had been ripped off as they yanked at it... she was pretty sure the fur lining around her hood wouldn't be easy to repair either. It was however, when with one particular hard yank at her coat that something she had known she shouldn't have taken along fell out, and Bellatrix knew she was in trouble.

The muggles blankly stared at the silver coronet lying innocently on the snow-covered ground for a few moments, their minds processing the information of what had just been dropped in front of them. They seemed to be in complete shock for a moment, their eyes wide with recognition of what the expensive headwear was.

Bellatrix lost no time as she turned around and ran for it.

"The princess! That's that damn bastard's daughter!"

"Princess Bellatrix!"

"Get her!"

Bellatrix fully blamed the snow for her downfall. She tripped, and the next thing she knew there was a sharp pain in her head, followed by unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>To say that Bellatrix's head hurt as she awoke an indefinite amount of time later, in a dark, cold, humid and unknown room... would be an understatement. She felt as if a fucking horde of drunk hippogriffs had come and trampled all over her head, repeatedly... for the last five hours.<p>

Yeah, that was a fitting analogy, she decided. Either that... or being hungover by Firewhiskey.

She tried to pick herself up, her arms being able to support her weight for only a little while before a wave of sudden pain hit her, causing the witch's vision to start swimming, her arms trembling before they completely gave in, her body connecting with the cold floor as she let out a hiss.

"Damn."

Okay, so that had been a bad idea. At the very least, she seemed to be alone in this room... which gave her some time to asses her current situation... as well as figure a way to get out of it.

Just getting up and walking right out didn't seem like an option right now... not only didn't she currently have the strength to get up, let alone _walk_, but she had no idea in hell where she was... other than the obvious of course, which would be (_hopefully_) somewhere in Gehenna. Then there was the other matter... the one that apparently involved her being shoeless at the moment... as well as coat-less, for that matter. The silver tiara didn't seem to be there either, but that didn't really bother her... the thing had been but an annoyance anyway. The witch's mind immediately connected all of her possessions' disappearance to the muggles from before... but where were they? Outside wherever she was seemed like the most logical answer.

She'd long ago given up on trying to apparate anywhere, it would seem that she no longer possessed that ability anyway, even if she could still toy with legimency... apparition and legimency though, were two very different arts, completely different branches of magic, so she shouldn't be comparing the two of them in the first place...

Before she could continue that train of though though, the door creaked open, light flooding in and making Bellatrix close her eyes, slightly squinting as she attempted to catch sight of the intruder.

"Oh? Finally awake, are you, _princess_?" There was a certain mocking edge to the man's voice, the witch did not bad an eyelash at it though. Bellatrix recognized the muggle that had just entered as the one that had blocked her way back at the town square.

"Yeah, and no thanks to your hospitality." She spat, sitting up but not daring to do much more for the moment. Those people were generally stupid and dim-witted, Bellatrix decided... but the biggest idiocy was probably not even bothering to _try _and restrain her movement.

There was no way they could ever know this... but despite the fact she might _look_ like a child, she was anything but.

"Why you-!"The man leaped forward at once, his arms outstretched, fists white, clenched and ready to attack her. He was on her in a matter of seconds and Bellatrix gasped as her head hit the wall (and if she hadn't had a damn concussion before, she sure as hell would have one no now), the man's hand on her neck, squeezing dangerously as she wheezed for precious oxygen.

He looked mad with anger, his pupils dilated, messy hair flying all directions and his horrible breath filling the pit of the witch's stomach with disgust. She wasn't scared or intimidated though, that cold look her 'father' was capable of giving was a thousand times worse... and she wasn't even going to bring the Dark Lord into this... if he thought what he did would scare her, then this muggle was well mistaken.

There was still the matter which involved her being choked by this barbaric brute though... and that was far from forgotten. If the idiot didn't loosen his grip, _soon_, she would lose her consciousness once again.

Luckily, even _he_ seemed to possess that little thing called common sense.

"You might be a princess out there..." He hissed, his grip over her neck loosening, "but right now you're nothing more than our hostage."

Bellatrix coughed, wheezing, just gasping for precious air, tears having unwillingly gathered in the corners of her eyes. It was like that for a few seconds, the muggle watching as the witch managed to pull herself together surprisingly quickly... well, that is if she had _really _been a twelve-year-old, as her appearance suggested. She looked up once had she calmed down, the fire inside her far from extinguished. But she didn't speak or provoke him, for in that instant she had what she wanted. From their positions right now, the witch could stare right into his eyes.

There were no walls, no resistance whatsoever... and it wasn't surprising either, for muggle minds were just more vulnerable to legimency than wizards were by nature, because they had no way to fight back other than being guarded. And after having to fight and twist your way through the shield of powerful occlumens... well, lets just say that the petty mind of an intoxicated muggle was no challenge.

He seemed to sense discomfort as she poked and prodded the very deepest corners of his mind, seeing private content even this muggle himself had long forgotten... even in his completely drunk stat, he could tell that something was wrong. He couldn't place what it was... and even if there was a 1 on 1000 possibility that he would have enough brain cells left (he seemed like the kind of idiot that would burn them all by getting drunk every night) to figure it out, Bellatrix didn't give him the chance.

There were no openings as she played boggart.

She might not yet be able to do much more than deceive the basic sense of vision, tampering just a bit with hearing... but that was more than enough after she had discovered what she wanted.

The man's terrified screams were heard throughout the whole building, and sure enough, it wasn't long before they attracted the attention of his accomplices. They burst in soon, seven of them, all attracted by the the growing ruckus unfolding in the basement. And it wasn't long before they were all caught in her spell.

They were all caught in the lie Bellatrix created. All of them seeing different things, and reacting in different ways... some of them trying to fight off the invisible monster, others screaming and trying to run, breaking down and crying, scratching the walls in a desperate attempt for freedom... but all they had one thing in common. They were experiencing their biggest fear. And it hadn't even been hard, Bellatrix thought as she smirked in contempt at the muggles and how pathetic they were, everything the witch had needed had been right there, in their foolishly unguarded minds. Every detail to make it real and believable... ready and served to her on a golden platter.

And in that moment, hearing the screams, the fear, the sheer _agony_, Bellatrix felt like herself again. And she laughed. She laughed, allowing herself to enjoy the pure sadistic enjoyment she got from this.

How long had it been?

How long had it been since she had tortured? Killed?

How long had it been since she had last had the chance she got to really be herself?

_Way too long_, the witch concluded.

* * *

><p>Getting back home was an entirely different matter. It wasn't easy either, with Bellatrix having no idea where in Merlin's bloody hell she exactly was.<p>

She had to admit, driving them all completely crazy, hadn't been one of her brightest moments... she could've used one of those muggles to at least get her to the forest which would lead her to the castle... but nooo, she only thought of that _after_ she had managed to completely break every single one of them.

Well... in end it didn't really matter, she found a way back either way. She wouldn't be Bellatrix Black if she couldn't, she arrogantly thought as she marched up the stairs to the main hall. She would have to find another exit at some point though... because seriously... fitting herself through that window was becoming strenuous...

She shook off that thought, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it... right now, she was too tired to concern her head with this shit. She would take a long warm shower, and then got straight to bed, get a good night's sleep and deal with whatever her 'parents' would throw at her for her disappearance later... they could wait a few more hours.

It had been a day and a half and Bellatrix knew that just wouldn't go by unnoticed... especially on a day as... well, yesterday. Ah, Belphegor wouldn't be very satisfied either. No matter, she'd make up for that...

It was only a few seconds later that the silence... the emptiness... finally seemed to catch up with her over-exerted brain.

It was six PM (or so she estimated, anyway), and the castle seemed to be completely empty, deserted. That wasn't right. There should be servants running around, it was dinner time. The maids should be cleaning, exchanging their usual gossip and chitchat. And since when was it okay to just leave a broken vase lying in the middle of the hallway?

It wasn't.

Something was off.

Bellatrix was careful not to step on the broken shards of (surely expensive) porcelain as she quickly made a semi-circle around them, continuing towards the direction she'd initially been heading for, only that she was running now.

It wasn't long before she reached her destination, long ago having memorized the spidery halls that formed the castle. She threw the first door on her right open, a cry of "Belphegor!" escaping her lips.

The sight that met the witch, paused her right on her tracks, her breath getting caught in her throat.

Blood. _Everywhere._

The once luxurious (though somewhat messy) shared room of the royal twins didn't look unlike the remains of a battleground. Broken furniture. Blood. Curtains ripped to shreds. The window was broken. Blood. What looked a clump of mud and filled with worms on the floor. Blood.

What _the fuck _had happened during her absence?

The metallic scent of blood was so strong Bellatrix wondered how in hell she had not noticed it before. Disgusting.

Now don't get her wrong, Bellatrix liked torturing, she enjoyed the screams and pain. She enjoyed death as well... but clean kills had always suited her a lot more than the gory, bloody ones. Not because she couldn't stand blood or something stupid like that, but just because she found it clashed with the refined elegance a pureblood such as herself should always carry.

Clearly... whoever had done this, did not agree with her.

It wasn't long after that thought that Bellatrix's dark eyes landed on the figure sprawled out on the carpet. A child. Blonde. Blood everywhere. He wasn't moving.

For a moment, Bellatrix felt as if she had been douched with a bucket of icy cold water. He had been stabbed, her mind quickly told her, multiple times. It was amateur work. But it was enough to be fatal. The child certainly _looked_ dead from where she was standing.

And then she noticed the black shirt. _Black_ shirt. Her brain started working again. The twin lying there was Rasiel!

Where was Bel? She had to find Belphegor! Her mind worked quickly, frantically calculating the possibilities.

_Who had done this? _She didn't know.

_How had they gotten inside? _She didn't care.

_Had he gotten to Bel yet?_

The scream that tore through the air snapped her out of her thoughts. The witch looked around, and quickly ran off, following the pained shrieks down the hallways. They were female, high pitched and simply horrified. The queen?

Most likely.

_Where was Belphegor_? It didn't seem likely he'd be with his mother, but right now the witch had no other leads to follow.

When she got to the right room, the door was already open, and Bellatrix wasted no time running inside. The sight she was met with caused her to freeze, her dark-colored eyes widening.

There, sure enough, in the farthest corner of the room, pressed against the wall, the queen was. Her usually stoic eyes filled with tears and utter horror... but they were now glassed over. And before her, her own eight-year-old son stood, holding the weapon which killed her in his hand.

Bellatrix couldn't even start describing everything that was wrong with this scene... but she guessed the crazed, weird giggle-like sound that he was emitting was as good a start as any. She couldn't hold back a shiver as she stared at the little boy, he seemed to be murmuring something to himself and the witch had to strain her ears in order to catch it all.

"Shishishishi~" He giggled... or was it a snicker? Bellatrix couldn't tell. "So pretty~ mother's royal blood!"

The king was lying in the middle of the room, and he had met the same fate as his late wife and oldest son. It was suddenly so very obvious.

_Nobody had gotten inside the castle_.

_Nobody was after Belphegor._

Because it was Bel himself that had done this.

* * *

><p><strong>So that's that! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter ^^<strong>

**And I'm really sorry for the awful delays lately *bows* but I did it! I finally forced myself to do something productive in those last few days and I managed to actually write a chapter~ Soooo... yeah, THIS STORY IS NOT DISCONTINUED! Just making it clear... I'm just a shamelessly lazy person that procrastinates waaaay too much.**

**I plan on the Bel and Bellatrix meeting the Varia pretty soon look so forward to that!**

**Anyway thanks for reading and please leave a review :)**


	7. The aftermath

For a few moments Bellatrix could only stare at the scene in front of her, her eyes wide and her feet glued to the ground.

She could only look at _the bodies. _Lifeless. Mangled. Ripped to shreds. Their eyes glassed over, empty, mouths opened up in a horror and pain-filled scream. Their last one.

_The blood._ It was everywhere. Red. Staining the once white carpet, the expensive portraits, the walls, the furniture.

_The disgusting, metallic scent._

And the little boy, barely eight years old, standing in the middle of it all... and _laughing._

"Shishi~ ushishishi! Shishishi~ aaah, the blood! It won't stop flowing, blood! _Royal blood_!" Belphegor didn't seem to have taken notice of her yet, he was too busy holding his hands up in the air, admiring the red sticky liquid that coated them, watching it as it slowly slid down in little rivulets... down his fingers, his palms, and down his forarms, getting mingled into the white sleeves of his shirt. His back was turned to her, his once white shirt stained with red. None of it was his though, the witch was sure. It was rather like a scene taken right out of a twisted horror movie.

Bellatrix was surprised... quite understandably so, in fact. She had just walked in on her little brother basking in the aftermath of his first kill... that of his own family. Was she disgusted? A little... and not for the reasons she should be. She didn't give a rat's arse about the king and queen really... neither did she really care about Rasiel. Blood wasn't really her thing though, and neither were torn off limbs and ripped up stomachs. Even to the Black witch, this was a sight that made her stomach churn. But scared?

Did she feel scared as she stood there, her expensive sandals getting stained by the blood on the carpet?

_Not really._

She knew she should be, she knew Belphegor in this condition (whatever it was that had taken over him) could not be safe. If the other members of their immediate family were anything to go by she should be running right now, running as fast and far away as possible and hoping this child did never catch up to her. She knew she should be running for her life, even her primal instincts screamed at her to, she had goosebumps all over her skin and the hair on her arms and the back of her neck was standing up. But she ignored it.

Because she was not scared... rather, she was _intrigued._

This hadn't been part of her plan, or well, not yet at least. The King and Queen would die eventually, either by her hand or Belphegor's. She had always known that, counted on that happening... she wouldn't have had it any other way. She just hadn't expected it to happen nearly as early as it did...

_And there_, it had happened again... Belphegor had surpassed her expectations once more. And it excited her, it made her eyes glint in a certain way they hadn't for a long while now, because this child really was something else. He was interesting. And that went against everything she had always been taught and believed in. Because he was a muggle. He was supposed to be beneath her... yet, Bellatrix couldn't help but think otherwise. Sure, there was no speck of magical blood in his veins, but that didn't matter, in Bellatrix's eyes he had rightfully gained the right to be her equal.

There was a loud sudden _bang _from somewhere in the castle, a silence-crushing sound that snapped both Bellatrix out of her musings but Belphegor out of his killing induced euphoria as well. The young prince turned around and seemed to just pause for a moment as he took in his sister.

"Bella...?" He asked , cocking his head as he looked at her. And suddenly a grin spilled out on his lips, a grin that did not belong on the face of an eight-year-old, the very face of innocence. The witch was pretty sure she'd never seen anything quite like it before. "Ushishi, _you're back._"

Bellatrix barely had the time to react, for the next thing she knew, a blur of blonde, white and red was coming flying right at her. She caught sight of the knife mere moments before the boy stroke, and all she could really do was jump out of its way, her body colliding with the carpeted floor.

"Shit!" Her hand reflexively flew up to her arm, where the knife Belphegor was holding had created a gash, and blood was now flowing out. Her head immediately snapped back to the blonde boy, rolling out of the way right before the knife he was swinging at her could get buried deep within her skin. She wasn't tricked for a moment, it was her experience with dodging spells that had saved her this far, had she been anyone but Bellatrix Black, first class duelist, she'd have been dead. Belphegor was good, _scary good. _When had he become that good?

Bellatrix backed up, getting away from the approaching child and pushing herself back on her feet again, backing off a bit more.

"Ushishi."

"Bel? What the bloody hell is going on?!"

The small prince grinned, but offered no real answer as he casually took the knife he was holding and wiped it off at his shirt.

"What do you mean, Bella? The prince is simply enjoying himself."

_The prince? _Well... that was a new one. Bellatrix took another step back, as a precaution. It didn't look like this Belphegor would be in a very chatty, lets-talk-everything-out-like-civilized-people mood.

"Hey Bella, have you ever killed?" The grin seemed to grow even bigger than it already was at that point... and now it honestly looked creepy. "It feels great, the screams, the blood, the adrenaline! Ushishi! The prince wants more!"

That was her cue to get the hell out of Belphegor's way, because sure enough, the next moment the young prince was running towards her again, and this time, Bellatrix was prepared. She hadn't fought two wizarding wars and come out with nothing after all. Belphegor might be good, but she was better, or at least... she had an advantage over him. All his experience came from the fights with his brother after all. And she had watched very nearly all of them, she knew their patterns, their flaws, the weaknesses in their attacks.

"Royal blood! The prince wants all of it!"

He raised his knife, ready to stab her but Bellatrix grabbed his arm before he could. She didn't give him the time to get over his surprise and struggled the knife out of the prince's grip instead, discarding it, chucking the weapon out of his immediate range.

And then it was just them that remained, a struggling mess on the floor, rolling about and shoving, biting, kicking, scratching. Just like muggles. Just like peasants. Looking nothing like the prince and pureblood they had always been raised to be.

Belphegor passed out due to overexertion pretty soon, and when that happened, Bellatrix was there to catch him.

* * *

><p>The massacre of the royal family hadn't of course gone unnoticed... how could it? Though many of them had been killed in Belphegor's frenzy, there were still members of the staff that had managed to escape, and Bellatrix knew it wouldn't be long before they called for help. It wouldn't be long until the royal guards swarmed in and took over the castle, aiming their weapons at Belphegor and herself and taking them off to Merlin knows where.<p>

Bellatrix knew this, and she also knew this was possibly the only chance she'd ever get... it was now or never, the chance she had been waiting for so, so long.

Still, there was the matter of Bel, she couldn't go anywhere like this... Bel was out cold, and carrying him was out of the question. She was twelve, she physically wouldn't be able to handle the eight-year-old's weight for very long. She couldn't exactly drag him along through the halls either... and a levitating spell, as practical as that would've been, wasn't possible either. She had no wand, and even if she'd had one she doubted she'd be able to use magic. Leaving him behind was of course an option as well, but the witch shook the thought off as soon as it entered her mind. She wasn't about to leave the only person that even slightly interested her behind to rot. She wasn't sure what his fate for murdering the royal family would be, maybe nothing yet (if you took his age in account), but the witch was positive it'd be nothing pleasant.

She shivered and wondered if there was something like dementors in this world. It was a horrible thought, and she quickly pushed it back out of her mind. Well, even if there weren't, Bel was coming with her.

The only question that remained was, _how_?

She could hear footsteps, and a strong voice, possibly giving out orders.

_They were there._

Bellatrix took another quick look around her before shooting into action. She half-carried, half-dragged Belphegor out of the room as quickly as she could, pulling him along down the halls and putting him down in a somewhat blind corner before sitting down next to him.

The voices were louder now, the footsteps heavier. They had found the bodies of the King and Queen, the witch could tell... it wouldn't be much longer now. Running was no use, maybe if she had been on her own... but not like this.

"Where is he?! He couldn't have gone off far!"

There was a murmur, too low (or too far away) for the witch to comprehend.

"I don't care! Find him! Find prince Belphegor now!"

"Yes sir!"

Bellatrix pulled Belphegor's limp body closer to her and closed her eyes, letting out a calming breath as she simply listened to the footsteps. Coming closer, and closer... until- she opened her eyes at the gasp that was heard from right in front of her, her light blue pupils catching sight of the gun pointed at her and widening in horror. She clutched the little black haired boy closer to her, her hands trembling.

"Hey, hey...! It's okay, don't be scared..!" The guard quickly said, trying to sound soothing as he lowered his weapon, not putting it away entirely, but still not pointing it at the two kids on the floor. "You're okay now, shhh, relax. Don't be afraid."

Bellatrix simply stared back at him, not sure, her eyes filled with fear. Or so it seemed like to the guards at least...

"Come on, it's dangerous here, we need to get you out of here." Another guard spoke up, looking around him, as if expecting the young prince to jump out any moment now and kill them all.

"B-but what a-about-"

"Don't worry about that, we'll handle everything. Our first priority is getting you to safety."

Bellatrix slowly nodded, sending a glance towards the younger boy that was sitting next to her.

"He- he's unconscious..."

"Is he hurt?"

"I d-don't think so." The third guard nodded.

"Then it's okay," he stepped forward to pick the young child up. "Come on, we'll get you someplace safe..." Bellatrix nodded and accepted the man's help to get her up, following him down the familiar halls as he led her outside.

More guards were waiting out there and none of them showed any hostile behavior. If anything, they looked shocked and surprised, maybe even concerned, as they questioned the witch, letting her sit in the back of the big car they had all come with, offering her brother and herself a blanket and promising they'd be away from the castle in no time.

They questioned her, and Bellatrix answered effortlessly.

They were Narcissa and Regulus, 14 and 6 respectively, and their mother had taken them along to work today. They had been playing when they heard some screams, and because curiosity killed the cat, they hadn't been able to resist taking a look. She described how they found the crown prince, prince Rasiel, dead, and how her little brother got sick by all the blood and passed out. She then hid both of them, and they had been sitting there since.

But she didn't want to talk about this, because all she really wanted to do was forget this.

The guards nodded, understanding, and asked them where they lived.

* * *

><p>"Oww..." The low whimper that suddenly broke through the silence alerted Bellatrix of her little brother finally waking up. <em>It was about time too, <em>she mentally told herself as she looked away from the mirror she had been standing in front of, taking a moment to flip a lock of her platinum blonde hair behind her shoulder as she turned around to face the young prince. He was sitting up, looking somewhat confused as he looked around him.

"Are you yourself again?" She questioned, causing Belphegor's head to snap in her direction as he suddenly became aware of her presence.

"I-" The boy in front of her pursed his lips, eyes narrowing "... who are you? Where is the prince?"

The witch heaved a sigh.

"Relax, it's me Bel." She dropped part of her illusion, allowing her true face to show, "it's an illusion. Besides, take a look at yourself..."

The gray eyes looked mildly surprised when they met his mirror image, then intrigued as he moved closer to it, feeling his face and head, his bangs, even finding that the coronet was still in place.

"It's a mind trick, reality is still there." Bellatrix helpfully (or maybe not so helpfully) supplied, reassuming the form of Narcissa.

"But... how?"

It wasn't often that you got the chance to completely baffle the genius called Belphegor, and Bellatrix couldn't do much to hide the grin that kept wanting to appear on her face. She secretly (or maybe not that secretly) felt quite accomplished. It was only a minor illusion, the fooling of sight since that was the only thing she could pull off easily and know how to control, but still... it was something. _And_, the other good thing about this whole thing was that, whatever had taken over the child back at the castle, had obviously passed now.

"It's a gift." She simply shrugged as Belphegor still marveled at the fact he looked like Regulus Black, Bellatrix Black's long deceased cousin. He had died even before the ending of the first wizarding war. Which was a pity, he'd been a good boy. _And _the Blacks' last male heir, since Sirius obviously did not fit the criteria. "Anyway, as for where we are... This orphanage just outside Gehenna, I think. I told the guards we had no parents so they brought us here."

"Orphan... wait, you said... Gehenna?" Bellatrix could practically see the imaginary cogs inside the boy's head turning, making the connection . "So that means-"

"We're not in the castle anymore, yes." She grinned, and Belphegor jumped up, running to the window to get a look outside. It wasn't much different than what he got to see at the castle (okay, so there was nothing well kept about it, but it was still nature), still Belphegor's eyes were wide with excitement as he stood on his tiptoes to get a look at what was outside. The child had never been allowed out of the castle walls before, so this was his first time experiencing this. _The very first time_, because when Bellatrix had gotten out for the first time... well, she _had _been outside before. Even if that was in another life.

"Come on, we should get something to eat. You must be starving." The boy nodded, a question suddenly bolting into his mind.

"How long has the prince been out for?"

"Something more than twelve hours... it's seven now, so they should probably have breakfast ready by now." With a nod, Belphegor took a moment to wear the shoes by the bed before he followed her out of the room. "Oh, and your name is Regulus, alright? I'm Narcissa."

"... Regulus?" The witch could almost hear the unheard, _really, of all names, that's the one you chose? How did it even come to you? _and chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"It's the second brightest star in the Leo constellation." Then, realizing that this probably didn't mean much to her little brother, she added "Regulus also means little prince."

Now that, he liked, for Belphegor nodded in what she supposed was acceptance and they walked on to the orphanage's collective dining room in silence. Neither of them planned on staying there long, but they should get a refill before going anywhere... food was free here, and Bellatrix wasn't naïve enough to believe this would be, in any sense of the word, easy. They would be two kids, fugitives from their kingdom, without money, food or anything. But Belphegor was a genius, and she wasn't bad herself, she had more life experience, plus her illusions. She was sure they'd pull through sooner or later.

* * *

><p>When night came, the moon being up high in the night sky, no one suspected that two of the children would be awake way after curfew, just sitting on their respective beds and waiting for the right moment.<p>

In the dead of the night, no one noticed the two kids climbing out through the window, or down the tree next to said window, no one noticed them easily slipping through the gates. And they were gone, just like that. And no one in Gehenna, or in the whole of Accidia, ever heard of or saw the kids called Regulus and Narcissa again.

Just like they never heard anything about prince Belphegor and princess Bellatrix again.

* * *

><p>"Hey Bella..."<p>

"Hmm?"

"Do you remember that day...?"

The black-haired witch sighed, rolling over on her bed so that she was facing Belphegor. They were in a crappy motel in Milan, Italy. Supposedly the kids of a random man they plucked off the street and _convinced_ (so okay, that actually consisted of holding a knife to his neck, with Belphegor illusioned into looking like a very angry Severus Snape)to help them. Of course, they'd have to find a replacement for him, since they'd let him go after they threatened him into silence...

They had kept his jacket though... since it was rather warm, and Belphegor liked it. Even if he was almost literally swimming in it when he wore it.

That was a few days ago.

"You're going to have to be more specific, Bel." She said, her tone of voice bored.

"Well, you know. _That _day." Belphegor gave her a meaningful look, though she couldn't actually see that due to the bangs covering his red eyes.

"The day you killed them?" The prince was silent for a few moments, before he nodded. "What about it?"

"Do you... do you remember what day it was? They day... right before?"

"The twenty-second, right? Your birthday." Belphegor nodded in confirmation once more, frowning.

"Why weren't you there? You promised the prince you would be there to keep him company..." He almost pouted, but stopped himself, because he didn't think pouting was princely behavior. "Rasiel tried to shove a mudball with worms down my throat." He suddenly grinned. "The prince threw some laxatives in his milk as retaliation though."

"I had intended to be there, believe me, I tried." Bellatrix scoffed. "I had gone down to Gehenna to get you- oh, hold on..." The witch sat up, her eyes suddenly widening as she recalled the reason why she'd gone to Gehenna in the first place on that morning! Of course, how the hell could she forget?!

The black-haired physically 12-year-old jumped off her bed, taking a moment to dig through her stuff before her hand emerged, holding a package. It wasn't beautifully wrapped, if anything it looked hasty and somewhat dirty by now... but the contents should still be fine.

"Well, I was planning on giving you this two weeks ago... on your birthday." She walked over to Bel, who curiously examined the parcel she passed him. "I had forgotten about it actually, but I went through a lot of trouble to get it. Some stupid muggles knocked me out when they realized who I was, and that was why I was gone for so long. Well... I would've packed it to look somewhat more presentable... but yes..." She shrugged.

Belphegor snickered, that "ushishi" sound that had been becoming more and more common lately ringing through the room... Bellatrix didn't really mind it, since he didn't seem to any longer have the intention to kill her.

"What is it?"

"Open it."

Belphegor quickly did, grinning happily as he caught sight of the hint of silver inside.

"Ushishi! This is great, Bella!" The young prince exclaimed, taking out the silver knife and holding it up as he grinned. It was a strange knife, kind of curved, looking a tiny little bit like the tips of a crown... and deadly, oh yes it did look sharp and deadly. There was even a little hole in the back of the hilt. Bellatrix wasn't sure what that was for, but she was sure her brother would find some use for it.

In short, Bellatrix found in perfectly fitted Belphegor... even more so now that the boy had actually killed.

The boy tackled her in a hug, wrapping his arms around her middle and accidentally pushing them both down. He looked happy though, so Bellatrix decided not to be angry at him for it.

"Hey Bel..."

"Yes, Bella?"

"Do you regret it? Killing your- our family?" The blonde boy looked at Bellatrix as they both sat up again, blonde strands having moved out of his face to reveal his blood red eyes. He frowned for a few seconds, something that wasn't quite regret flashing in his eyes before he shook his head.

"They weren't our family." He finally said. "We're each other's family, right? Even back when they were alive. They were never part of it."

* * *

><p><em>In a certain castle not very far away from Milan<em>

"VOOOOOOII! Are you fucking kidding me?!" The young fourteen-year-old screamed angrily, glaring at the shivering man in front of him. The strange thing about this scene was that the man was nearly twenty years older than him... yet he was cowering at the sight of the younger teen, _his squad commander, _so obviously furious. He looked like he was about to faint. "So let me get this straight." The teen growled in an alarmingly low tone of voice... Superbi Squalo, commander of the Varia's newly formed rain squad, did not do calm, or low voices. "You were threatened by two... two _kids_, that looked like they weren't any older than _ten _or _eleven_, and they made you pay their motel room, took your money, _and STOLE YOUR VARIA JACKET?!_"

"Y... yes sir..."

"YOU CALL THAT VARIA QUALITY?!"

"Now now Squalo... no need to be so angry..." His seventeen-year-old teammate, a teenager that called himself Lussuria, said, trying to calm down his younger comrade. All the boy called Squalo did in return, was throw the brown haired teen a sharp glare, almost personally offended by he hideous green... tuft of hair on his forehead.

They were a newly formed team, and they were still adjusting...

"We should go there and teach those brats a lesson for shaming the Varia, and boss's, name."

"Well... as much as I hate to agree with any of you kids (Squalo had to snort at that, look who was talking, a floating baby wearing an indigo pacifier around its neck) Leviathan has a point. We should silence them before this gets out... we're trying to build up a reputation here." _Besides_, the baby mentally told herself, if something like this got out, surely, work requests would go down. And that would mean less money. And Mammon did not tolerate things like 'less money'.

"Do whatever the hell you want, trash."

And that was it. Xanxus, their boss, had spoken. Squalo nodded.

"Vooooi! Alright then, tomorrow morning we're leaving for Milan. You better all be on time!"

* * *

><p><strong>And soooo I'm back people! ... With another chapter of Emerald Death! Wooh! *throws confetti in the air* The Varia's finally going to be part of the story now! I really can't wait to write about that. So yeah, anyways, thanks for reading and please do leave a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter, they're very much appreciated :)<strong>

**Oh yeah, I might also be writing a special omake-ish thingy for Emerald Death one of those days... so yeah XDD not quite sure when yet, but it involves HOGWARTS! And the Varia. Hehe, I really couldn't resist the temptation, and yeah, then this thought just popped into my mind ^^ It will have literally nothing to do with the story's original plot. But bright side: Fran will be included, wooh! Yeah... it will still be a while until we get to see Fran in the normal Emerald Death plot *sniff sniff*. Oh well... thanks again for reading my story, you wonderful people!**

**Till next time, ciao~**


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